The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Karnataka minister G. Janardhana Reddy in an illegal mining case involving Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) on the condition that he does not visit any of the mining zones in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and comprising Justices A.K. Sikri and Arun Mishra took on record the submission by CBI that it had no objection to the court granting bail to Mr. Reddy as the investigation is complete.
Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh submitted that the CBI had already filed a charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet in the case.
No objection
“Since the investigating agency has no objection, we are granting bail to Reddy,” Chief Justice Dattu recorded in the court order, dictated after a brief hearing.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, counsel for Mr. Reddy, submitted that his client had been in jail for over three years and agree with the court's caution to co-operate in the trial before a special court in Hyderabad.
The court acceded to the conditions put by the CBI, including that Mr. Reddy would surrender his passport, not influence witnesses and refrain from visiting Bellary in Karnataka and Anantapur and Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh. It further ordered Mr. Reddy to furnish two sureties of Rs. 10 lakh each as condition for bail.
Poor health cited for bail
In a hearing in December, Mr. Reddy had drawn the court’s attention to the long time he has spent in jail.
Janardhana Reddy had sought for bail in view of his poor health, among other reasons.
Mr. Reddy had approached the apex court challenging a 2013 High Court order rejecting his bail petition.
Five more cases
The petitioner and his brother-in-law B.V. Srinivas Reddy, managing director of OMC, were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011 from Bellary in adjoining Karnataka and brought to Hyderabad.
He along with others is facing five other cases.
