Janardhana Reddy's bail plea dismissed yet again

Hyderabad: A city court has once again dismissed the bail petitions of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his brother-in-law B.V. Srinivasa Reddy in an illegal mining case.

The judge, who had reserved his orders, pronounced it Tuesday. This is the fourth time since their arrest on Sep 5 last year that the special court dealing with Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases has rejected their bail pleas.

The petitioners had sought bail on the ground that the CBI has already filed the charge sheet in the case and that since investigations are already completed, there is no question of their tampering with the evidence.

The CBI, however, opposed the bail pleas on the ground that the accused, if released, might threaten the witnesses. Its counsel told the court that a charge sheet is yet to be filed against Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official Y. Srilakshmi, an accused in the case.

The prosecution informed the court that investigations were still continuing and the accused, if released on bail, could influence the probe.

The federal agency had arrested mining baron Janardhan Reddy and Srinivasa Reddy from Bellary in Karnataka on Sep 5 in connection with the illegal mining by Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district.

They are currently lodged at Chanchalguda Central Jail along with Srilakshmi and former mines director V.D. Rajagopal.

Meanwhile, CBI Joint Director V.V. Lakshminarayana told reporters that they were waiting for permission from the government of India for filing a charge sheet against Srilakshmi.

The lady IAS officer, who was arrested by the CBI in November last year, has already been suspended by the state government. She was family welfare commissioner at the time of her arrest.

Srilakshmi had allegedly misused her powers to grant iron ore mining lease to OMC, owned by Janardhana Reddy. His brother-in-law Srinivasa Reddy is the managing director of the company.