Gali gets month’s relief; SC directs special court to complete case in 6 months
ANANTAPUR: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the CBI court in Hyderabad to conduct trial in a decade-long case of illicit mining of iron ore, in which Bellary mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy is the main accused. The SC asked the court to complete the trial in six months' time.
The apex court permitted Reddy, a former Karnataka minister, to visit Bellary district and stay there till November to meet his daughter. Reddy has been on bail since 2015 but he was prohibited from visiting Ballary (Karnataka) and Anantapur and Kadapa districts of AP. The iron ore mines linked to the case are located in Anantapur and Ballary district borders.
Reddy had tried to set up a steel factory in Kadapa district by sourcing iron ore from the mines along the Anantapur-Ballary border.
The mining baron was arrested by CBI for his role in a mining scam in 2011 and got bail after remaining in judicial custody till 2015.
Reddy filed a petition with the supreme court seeking relaxation in the bail condition and seeking its permission for him to visit Bellary to meet his daughter who recently delivered a girl child.
An SC bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari gave him the permission to visit and stay in Ballary till November 6. The bench directed the CBI special court to conduct the trial in the case on a day-to-day basis and complete it within six months from November 9, 2022.
The bench directed Gali Janardhan Reddy to remain out of Ballary and other prohibited areas till the trial is completed by CBI special court.
Reddy and his brother-in-law BV Srinivas Reddy, MD of the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), were arrested by CBI in 2011 over allegations of changing the mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illicit mining in the reserve forest area along the borders of Ballary in Karnataka and the Anantapur districts.
