MINING SCAM: SUPRME COURT PERMITS EX- KARNATAKA MINISTER REDDY TO VISIT AILING FATHER-IN-LAW.

The Supreme Court on 7^th June 2019, allowed former Karnataka minister and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy to visit Ballari to meet his ailing father-in-law.

Gali Janardhan Reddy is an industrialist and politician affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Reddy has been involved in few controversies over the past years. In July 2011, the Lokayukta of Karnataka Santosh Hedge published a report on the illegal mining activities in Ballari region. Reddy was liable for rigging iron ore mining in the area and defrauding the government.

Reddy was arrested on 5^th September 2011 by the CBI, and taken to Hyderabad. He is accused of involvement in illegal mining of iron ore in Ballari in Karnataka and Anatapur in Andhra Pradesh. Reddy was remanded to judicial custody and sent to chanchalguda central jail.

On the 4^th August 2012, a CBI courts extended the judicial custody of Janaradhan Reddy and four others arrested in the illegal mining case. On 21 January 2015, the Supreme Court granted his bail.

On 7^th June 2019 Janardhan Reddy had moved to the Supreme Court for seeking permission to visit Ballari given the Reddy was granted bail with a condition of not visiting the district without the court’s leave.Reddy is one of the accused in a case of illegal mining scam of about Rs. 35,000 crore. The permission was granted because Reddy father-in-law suffering a heart attacks. Senior counsel S Ganesh arguing for Reddy and submitted that Reddy has in the past, visited Ballari in five different occasion with court permission.

By :

Chikita Malhotra