CBI Special Court ruled Gali Janardhan Reddy to imprison three to seven years in illegal mining case

Bla from Karnataka Gali Janardan Reddy. File | Image source: Sudhakara Jain

A special court held in Hyderabad by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sentenced four people to seven years in prison on Tuesday (6 May 2025) including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Karnataka Gali, from Karnataka Gali Janardan Reddy and his relative BV Srinivas Reddy, Mining Comporiation Comeriation, Aniing Comporiation a A A a imn Anig aa aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa imn aa im Ananthapur district in Andhra Pradesh. The case was registered by the CBI about 16 years ago.

When the case was registered, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, retired Indian Administrative Services (IAS) official B. Krupanandam was acquitted for the allegations against them due to lack of evidence. IAS official Y. Srilakshmi has received relief in the same case in which the Telangana High Court allowed her to discharge the hospital petition in November 2022.

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Ms. Indra Reddy later joined Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), who served as minister in the former BRS government and is currently the party’s Maheshwaram MLA.

Those convicted include VD Rajagopal, director of the Ministry of Mines, and Ali Khan, personal assistant to Janardan Reddy. Rajagopal, Khan, Janardan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy were also fined Rs 10,000. OMC was fined Rs 2 lakh for suspected illegal acts.

OMC excavated iron ore in the village of Obulapuram in the Balarri Reserve Forest area of ​​Anantapur district on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border. The Congressional administration filed a complaint against the center in 2009, accusing the company of violating all rules and that it is mining iron ore. OMC allegedly illegally extracts minerals in areas outside its permitted jurisdiction.

The CBI registered a case on December 7, 2009. After two years of investigation, it filed a charge in 2011 that OMC had been addicted to illegal mining, reaching Rs 88.413 crore. The CBI examined 219 witnesses and provided 3,400 documents. During the trial, one of nine defendants, Linga Reddy, died.

After the first information report (FIR) was proposed in 2009, many twists and turns occurred in the case. The defendants moved to the High Court and secured an order to investigate them. The investigative body then appealed to the judge of the branch and evacuated the order. This led to a long legal battle. The CBI submitted four fees from 2009 to 2014. Chgesheet said OMC illegally extracted it to export iron ore from other countries and was addicted to Benami Transactions.