Justice K. Lakshman of Telangana High Court on Monday reserved orders in the bail petition filed by Karnataka legislator Gali Janardhan Reddy who was recently awarded seven-year imprisonment by CBI special court in Obulapuram Mining Case.
The judge would pronounce the order on Tuesday. The main criminal petition appealing against the verdict of the CBI special court and seeking suspension of the sentence would be heard from August 11.
Senior counsel S. Nagamuthu, appearing for the convict Gali Janardhan Reddy, said that Mr. Reddy already served nearly half of the awarded jail term as remand prisoner having been arrested by the CBI in the OMC case. Citing Supreme Court verdicts, the senior counsel contended that convicts who served half of the jail term can be set free on bail.
While the case registered by the CBI against Mr. Reddy was related to charges of illegal mining beyond the parcels of lands leased out to OMC, the investigating agency did not focus on the point in its charge-sheet, the counsel said. Though the special law, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act was invoked in the case, the CBI did not mention specific evidence against the accused in the case.
CBI counsel Srinivas Kapatia, opposing bail to the convict, contended that there were no compelling circumstances to grant relief to Mr. Reddy. The convict’s contention that the jail term would harm his political career and that he had lost rights to represent and serve people of the constituency cannot be grounds for granting bail.
Mr. Reddy, who won as MLA from Gangawati constituency in Karnataka in 2023 having formed Kalyana Rajya Pragathi party, joined BJP during the time of 2024 general election. The Karnataka Assembly disqualified him as MLA following his conviction and awarding of seven-year jail term in the case.
Published – June 09, 2025 10:10 pm IST
