Hyderabad: Telangana High Court has suspended the seven-year imprisonment sentence of four persons, including BJP MLA from Karnataka, Gali Janardan Reddy awarded by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in the Obulapuram mining case and granted them bail.
The High Court granted conditional bail to Janardhan Reddy, his relative B.V. Srinivas Reddy, managing director, Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), D. Rajagopal, then Director of the Mining Department, and Janardan Reddy’s personal assistant, Ali Khan.
Justice K. Lakshman on Wednesday pronounced the orders on the pleas by the convicts for bail as well as a stay on the conviction.
The court directed the four convicts not to leave the country and furnish a personal bond of Rs.10 lakh.
The case, registered by the CBI 16 years ago, related to illegal mining by OMC in Anantapur district of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
A CBI special court in Hyderabad on May 6 awarded seven-year imprisonment to Janardhan Reddy and three others and imposed a fine of Rs.20,000 each. Rajagopal was sentenced for an additional four-year imprisonment.
Sabitha Indra Reddy, Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh when the case was registered, and retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer B. Krupanandam were acquitted of the charges framed against them due to lack of evidence.
Sabitha Indra Reddy later joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), served as a Minister in the erstwhile BRS government, and is currently the Maheshwaram MLA from that party.
During the arguments on the bail petitions on Tuesday, Janardhan Reddy’s counsel S. Nagamutu had sought a stay on the conviction saying he may lose his MLA seat. The court was told that Karnataka Assembly secretary has issued a notification stating that the post of legislator was vacant and the Election Commission was preparing to announce a bypoll.
After hearing the arguments, the High Court had posted the case to Wednesday for orders.
Meanwhile, the High Court adjourned to June 19 hearing on the discharge petition of IAS officer Y. Srilakshmi. It directed the CBI to file the counter to her petition.
While pronouncing its verdict on May 6, the CBI special court had also imposed a fine of Rs. 2 lakh on the OMC for alleged illegalities.
The company had excavated iron ore in Obulapuram village in the Ballari reserve forest area of Anantapur district along the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border.
The Congress government in 2009 lodged a complaint with the Centre alleging that the company was mining iron ore in violation of all rules. It was alleged that the OMC was illegally extracting minerals in areas beyond its permitted jurisdiction.
The CBI registered a case on December 7, 2009. After two years of investigation, it filed a chargesheet in 2011, accusing the OMC of indulging in illegal mining to the tune of Rs. 884.13 crore. The CBI examined 219 witnesses and presented 3,400 documents.
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