The court on Saturday allowed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) five days custody of retired judge T. V. Chalapathi Rao and T. Ravi Chandra, arrested in the cash-for-bail scam.
The court also dismissed a plea by suspended judge of CBI court T. Pattabhi Rama Rao, arrested in the same case, seeking better accommodation in jail.
The ACB had moved the court of Principal Special Judge for ACB and Special Police Establishment cases S. Jagannadham seeking five days’ custody of both the former judge and son of suspended CBI judge for further interrogation.
Counter filed
Earlier in the week, counsel for Mr. Rama Rao had moved the court seeking better accommodation for the suspended judge on the ground that he was accustomed to a higher standard of living and that he was suffering from chronic ailments. After hearing the counter from the prosecution, the court on Saturday dismissed his plea. Based on a complaint by the CBI the ACB had registered a case on June 9 against Mr. Pattabhi Rama Rao and seven others, including Chalapathi Rao and Ravi Chandra, for offences of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct in the matter of granting bail to mining baron and former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.
The ACB in its FIR stated that a deal was struck allegedly between Mr. Janardhan Reddy and others, including the judge, for granting bail to the Karnataka mining baron in the illegal mining case being probed by the CBI.
The CBI had earlier recovered Rs. 1.60 crore cash from bank lockers belonging to Mr. Pattabhi Rama Rao and another Rs. 1.14 crore from the possession of T. Balaji Rao, brother of Mr. Chalapathi Rao.
