Former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and three others were sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment in Obulapuram illegal mining case on Tuesday. Reddy was a Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Gangawati Assembly constituency since 13 May 2023 and was being associated with the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha. He had rejoined the BJP on 25 March 2024.
The court sentenced them to seven years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each. Reddy was named accused number two. The court imposed a Rs 1 lakh fine on the company. Soon after the judgment the CBI took Reddy and others into custody.
The CBI court delivered the judgement nearly 14 years after the CBI had filed a charge sheet against Reddy and others accusing them of tampering with mining lease boundary markings and carrying out mining illegally in 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 Janardhan Reddy's brother-in-law and Managing Director of OMC, Srinivas Reddy (A1) and VD Rajagopal (A3), the then Assistant Director of Mines and Geology, Mehafuz Ali Khan (A7), Reddy's personal assistant.
