Justice B Nagamaruthi Sarma had, during his stint as the principal judge for CBI cases, turned down an offer of Rs 40-crore bribe for giving bail to Obulapuram mining baron and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.
Sarma made his statement before a court on August 2 and the same was included in the chargesheet filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in the cash-for-bail scam recently.
In his statement, justice Sarma said suspended judge K Lakshminarasimha Rao had called him up in the third week of August and told him that he wanted to meet him at his house.
“As he is an elderly person and was holding a bigger post, I told him that I would myself go to his house, and took his address,'' Sarma said.
He went to Rao's house where during discussions the latter broached the issue of granting bail to Janardhan Reddy and offered Rs 40 crore.
Sarma told Rao that he would rather die than leave the path of justice and left Rao's residence.