New Delhi, May 7: Former minister and Gangavathi MLA Gali Janardhan Reddy and four other accused have been convicted by a special CBI court in the illegal mining case and sentenced to seven years in prison.
The accused were accused of illegally mining and illegally selling 29 lakh tonnes of ore to the government and evading tax. After about 16 years, the CBI court has announced its verdict in the illegal mining case. With this, illegal mining, which had created a lot of noise not only at the state but also at the national level, has reached the theoretical stage.
After 2008, illegal mining in Bellary, Tumkur, Chitradurga and the Andhra Pradesh border area had created a lot of noise. Social Transformation Organization chief S.R. Hiremath had filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court. The court that conducted the hearing had ordered a CBI investigation.
The investigation has been completed and the CBI has submitted the charge sheet to the court. Accordingly, the CBI special court today pronounced the sentence after hearing the arguments. The first accused B.V. Srinivas Reddy, the second accused Gali Janardhana Reddy, former Andhra Pradesh minister Sabita Indra Reddy, retired IAS officer Kripanandam and V.D. Raj of Obalapuram have been declared guilty and have been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Janardhana Reddy, who got emotional as the sentence was announced, said that he is involved in public service and has done a lot of social service. I am an MLA. I was in jail for three and a half years. Please reduce the sentence.
The special court judge, who agreed, said why should the sentence be reduced. You deserve more than 10 years in prison. At least life imprisonment, he responded harshly.
In the wake of the verdict, Janardhana Reddy went to Hyderabad today and appeared before the CBI special court. As the sentence was announced, the police took Janardhana Reddy and other accused into custody.
The lawyers for the accused are preparing to file an appeal in the Hyderabad High Court on behalf of Janardhana Reddy tomorrow. In the wake of the CBI court's verdict, Janardhana Reddy, who is the MLA of Gangavathi, is in fear of losing his MLA seat.