Ex BJP min Gali’s plea for spl prison category rejected by CBI court

Hyderabad: A special CBI court in Hyderabad has rejected a petition filed by Gali Janardhan Reddy, the former Karnataka minister and BJP leader convicted in the Obulapuram illegal mining case, seeking to be treated as a special category prisoner during his sentence.

Reddy, who is currently serving a seven-year jail term in Chanchalguda prison, had requested the court to issue directions for special facilities under a privileged prisoner category.

However, the CBI court dismissed his petition on Thursday, stating that with the verdict already delivered in the case, there were no pending matters before the court to warrant such consideration, and therefore, the petition could not be entertained.

Reddy, along with three others, was convicted earlier this month in the high-profile Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) illegal mining case, which involved large-scale unauthorised iron ore extraction across Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, causing a loss of Rs 884 crore to the exchequer.

The case, which spanned over 14 years and involved the scrutiny of thousands of documents and hundreds of witnesses, concluded with Reddy and his co-accused being sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and fined.

Following the conviction, Reddy’s legal team announced plans to challenge the CBI court’s verdict in the High Court.

They are also expected to file petitions seeking bail and requesting special category prisoner status, which could allow for additional facilities in jail.