CBI court sentences ex-Karnataka minister Janardhana Reddy to 7 yrs jail in illegal mining case

A special CBI court here on Tuesday convicted former Karnataka minister and MLA Gali Janardhana Reddy and three others in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) illegal iron ore mining case after a prolonged legal battle spanning nearly 14 years.

The court sentenced them to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each.

Janardhana Reddy was named accused number two. The court also imposed a Rs 1 lakh fine on the company.

Soon after the judgment, the CBI took Janardhana Reddy and others into custody. They are likely to be shifted to Chanchalguda Central Prison here.

The court, after trial, held the accused guilty under relevant sections of IPC and sentenced them accordingly.

The central agency in its charge sheets against Janardhana Reddy and others, accused them of tampering with mining lease boundary markings and carrying out mining illegally in the Bellary Reserve Forest area on the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border.

The Principal Special Judge for CBI cases, Judge T Raghu Ram, acquitted ex-minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and former bureaucrat B Krupanandam in the case.

The court convicted Janardhana Reddy's brother-in-law and Managing Director of OMC, B V Srinivas Reddy (A1) and VD Rajagopal (A3), the then Director of Mines and Geology (Andhra Pradesh government), Mehafuz Ali Khan (A7), Janardhana Reddy's assistant.

The prosecution accused that the illegal mining between 2007 and 2009 caused Rs 884 crore to the exchequer.

The CBI had on December 3, 2011, filed the first charge sheet and subsequently three supplementary charge sheets in the case against Janardhana Reddy, who is also director of the mining company, Srinivas Reddy, Rajagopal, late R Linga Reddy, the OMC (A4) and other accused.

The court examined 219 witnesses, and as many as 3,336 documents were marked to support the case.

Janardhana Reddy was arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011 and released on bail by the Supreme Court after spending nearly three and a half years in prison, on January 20, 2015.

Senior IAS officer Y Srilakshmi (one of the accused) was discharged from the case by the Telangana High Court in November 2022.

The CBI, in a release after the judgment said it had registered the case on December 8, 2009 against the accused.

"It was alleged that the accused in criminal conspiracy with each other committed offences of illegal mining of iron ore by criminally trespassing into the government lands and lands of other private persons and thus caused a loss of more than Rs 800 crore to the government," the release said.

CBI Public Prosecutor Inderjeet Santoshi argued the case on behalf of the investigating agency.

Meanwhile, Sabitha Reddy after her acquittal told reporters: "My sincere thanks to the judiciary. Though I had not committed any mistakes, I had to face the trial for twelve and half years with tears. I believed that I would get justice and the same happened."

Janardhana Reddy, Gangavati MLA (Karnataka), had formed the Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP) ahead of the Assembly polls in 2023, snapping his two-decade-old association with the BJP.

He, however, rejoined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by merging his outfit with the saffron party.