The lavish wedding of mining baron G. Janardhan Reddy’s daughter at Palace Grounds attracted criticism from anti-corruption activists.
National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) founder president S.R. Hiremath, who has filed cases in the Supreme Court against illegal mining in Ballari, said it was high time the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Central Vigilance Commission, and SIT appointed by the Supreme Court “wake up, raid Mr. Reddy’s house and ask for accounts”.
“Even as demonetisation has hit the common man, allowing Mr. Reddy to display his wealth without any checks is the greatest attack on the Constitution. We have written to all the agencies, the Chief Justice of India and the Prime Minister to take action,” he said.
Meanwhile, a complaint was filed by Bengaluru-based senior advocate T. Narasimha Murthy with the Directorate-General of Income Tax. In his four-page complaint, Mr. Murthy, who alleged massive tax evasion by Mr. Reddy, sought to know his source of income and how he was funding the marriage.
Claiming that Mr. Reddy had spent an approximate Rs. 650 crore on the wedding, Mr. Murthy questioned the “silence of the income tax authorities”.
“He was released from prison in 2015, after serving a five-year sentence in illegal mining cases. Besides expensive cars and choppers, Mr. Reddy and his wife Lakshmi Aruna’s immovable assets, worth around Rs. 70 crore, have been seized. He still managed to invest crores of rupees on his daughter’s wedding. How can this be possible?”he asked in his complaint.
Sources in the IT Department said the wedding was indeed under “close watch”.
Members of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) staged a protest near the wedding venue, condemning the flamboyant event at a time when ordinary citizens were cash-strapped.
Health Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar, who had earlier criticised the wedding as “sheer obscene display of wealth”, on Wednesday chose to refrain from commenting saying: “It is a joyous moment for Mr. Reddy to see his daughter married.”
