Former Karnataka Minister and owner of Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) Gali Janardhan Reddy and managing director of the company B.V. Srinivas Reddy on Wednesday renewed their bail applications in the court for CBI cases here, citing changed circumstances in the case against them.
They brought to the notice of the court that circumstances had changed after the CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet against Janardhan Reddy’s aide K. Mehfuz Ali Khan on January 2. Dismissing their bail pleas last month, the High Court had observed that they were free to seek relief from the lower court after the mandatory 90 days of custody of Khan.
The CBI filed the charge sheet against Khan on the same day.
Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy stated in their applications that they were languishing in jail for over 16 months but the trial in the case had not commenced. There was no possibility of the trial commencing in near future as the CBI reportedly was carrying on further investigation.
They pleaded that they had undergone severe physical and mental suffering in jail. Janardhan Reddy, in particular, had high blood pressure and diabetes. There need not be any apprehension that they would tamper with evidence if released because the charge sheets and statements of witnesses along with all other documents were already filed in court.
The court directed the CBI to file a counter affidavit on Friday.
