HUBLI: Under fire for illegal mining activities, the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) owned by Tourism Minister G Janaradhan Reddy has now burnt its fingers from the legal pyrotechnics of senior advocate, Ram Jethmalani.
On Monday, the Dharwad Circuit High Court issued emergent notices against OMC and the state government seeking explanation for the notice, which Jethmalani alleged was issued to harass his client, Rahul Baldota, a business rival of the Reddys. The Bellary rural police issued a notice to Baldota, the executive director of MSPL Ltd, Bellary, based on a complaint by the managing director of OMC, Srinivas Reddy.
Reddy had filed a complaint accusing Baldota of making threatening calls to him through anonymous third parties.
The HC bench stayed the police notice which asked Baldota to be present at the police station for interrogation on November 14. Jethmalani alleged that the police refused to give a copy of the complaint to Baldota and that the complaint had to be finally attained through the Right to Information ACT (RTI).
Jethmalani expressed shock over the fact that police issued the notice against his client without registering the case.
“It is really a strange complaint and I have never seen such a case in my 60 years of service.” Jethmalani argued before the bench that Baldota’s harassment by the Bellary police showed that they have colluded with the directors of OMC.
He sought a CBI inquiry into the complaint saying that his client had no faith and confidence left in the state police.
The court which issued emergent notices against five parties other than OMC and the state government also granted an interim order of stay on the notice issued by Bellary police against Baldota.
The next hearing of the case has been fixed on December 8.
