Hearing on Reddys' case adjourned till tomorrow

A special CBI court today adjourned till Thursday the hearing on a plea, seeking custody of former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and Managing Director of Obulapuram Mining Company BV Srinivas Reddy, both of whom were arrested for alleged illegal mining activities.

The special court will also hear arguments in connection with the bail petitions of the duo tomorrow, after the CBI filed its reply this evening.

Both the Reddys are presently in judicial custody and lodged in Chanchalguda prison here.

Earlier in the day, the defence counsels filed separate counters on behalf of Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy against the CBI petition, seeking a 15-day custody.

Uday Lalit, representing Janardhan Reddy, accused the CBI of seeking custody of his client without any evidence. "If they [CBI] are not producing any material [evidence], where is the justification for remand."

CBI Deputy Legal Advisor B Ravindranath, in reply, said they were ready to produce all the evidences as and when required by the court.

The Reddys were arrested on September 5 by a CBI team, led by its joint director (Hyderabad Zone) VV Lakshmi Narayana at Bellary in Karnataka after conducting searches at their premises.

While producing the duo, the agency had contended that it has to interrogate the accused as Obulapuram Mining Company had "violated" all norms and crores of rupees were involved in the alleged illegal mining at the Bellary reserve forest, located between Bellary district in Karnataka and Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.