NEW DELHI: Refusing to give any relief to mining baron and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed his plea seeking modification of a bail condition that he should be allowed to go to his hometown Ballari.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan dismissed Reddy’s plea seeking modification of bail order which restricts him from visiting Kadapa and Ballari districts.Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Reddy, said he has always complied with the bail conditions imposed and never violated them.“My family resides in Ballari. I have a house there but I am living in Bengaluru since bail was granted to me by the court,” Rohatgi said.
Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh appearing for CBI said the foundation of Reddy’s release on bail was the condition that he would not visit Ballari and Kadapa districts. Reddy was arrested and jailed in connection with an illegal mining case involving his Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC).
Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, Managing Director of OMC, were arrested by CBI on September 5, 2011 from Ballari and brought to Hyderabad.
In the OMC case, the company is accused of changing the mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Ballari Reserve Forest area, spread over Ballari in Karnataka and Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.