History-sheeter Yadagiri Rao, who acted as the middleman in the cash-for-bail scam, allegedly told investigators on Tuesday that mining baron and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy’s proxies agreed to pay Rs 20 crore to get his bail order from judge T Pattabhi Rama Rao.
Rao told Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) that he negotiated the deal with Janardhana Reddy’s brother Somasekhara Reddy and his relative Dasaratha Ram Reddy.
The deal was finalised at Reddy’s counsel E Umamaheshwara Rao’s house. Rao said Rs 5 crore was set aside for judge Pattabhi Rama Rao, Rs 5 crore for T V Chalapathi Rao, a retired judge who contacted the former, Rs 5 crore for himself and Rs 5 crore for possible expenses in the High Court.
Rao told ACB sleuths: “On May 5, I met Somasekhara Reddy and Dasaratha Ram Reddy.”Four days later, he again met them to reveal the final rate.
Then, the judge’s son, T Ravichandra, was brought to Masab Tank, but he could not meet Somasekhara Reddy, who said he would give Rs 10 crore after the bail was granted.
The remaining amount was prmised after seeing the order copy.
After the bail was granted on May 11, Somasekhara Reddy coughed up Rs 9.5 crore and promised to give the balance after the HC dismissed the CBI petition challenging the bail.