AP high court grants bail to suspended CBI court judge

Pattabhirama Rao, who was arrested on June 19 by the Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly accepting a bribe to grant bail to the mining baron in the Obulapuram Mining Company case, had moved the High Court against the dismissal of his bail application by the trial court.

Justice S Govindarajulu, who heard the arguments observed that the ACB had already filed a chargesheet, which disclosed that there is no investigation pending.

"The mere apprehension of the ACB that if the accused (Pattabhirama) is released on bail, he might influence witnesses cannot be the sole ground to keep the accused in jail indefinitely. Even otherwise, on merit, the ACB's case is solely dependent upon circumstantial evidence," the high court judge said.

The judge observed in his orders, "Looking at the age of the accused (Pattabhirama), his health condition and the fact he held the office of a judge, the court can safely conclude that letting off the accused will not prejudice the case of the prosecution".

The high court then granted bail to Pattabhirama on condition of furnishing two sureties for an amount of Rs 1 lakh.

The court also granted bail to another suspended district judge K Lakshminarasimha Rao as well as Janardhan Reddy's brother and Bellary City MLA Gali Somashekhar Reddy.