Cash-for-bail: former judge remanded in ACB custody

Chalapathi Rao and T Ravi Chandra were arrested on June 16 for entering into a conspiracy with Pattabhirama Rao and others to facilitate bail to former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy in the Obulapuram Mining Company case.

In another development, the court rejected the petition of Pattabhirama Rao, also arrested in the case, seeking a special class prisoner status at the Cherlapalli jail here.

On a tip-off that a deal was struck between Janardhan Reddy and the judge and others, CBI had recovered nearly Rs 1.60 crore cash from lockers, the keys of which were allegedly in the possession of Ravi Chandra. It also seized Rs 1.14 crore from the possession of T Balaji Rao, Chalapathi Rao's brother.

Pattabhirama Rao, as an additional special judge of CBI court, had granted bail to Reddy while rejecting the bail plea of suspended IAS officer Y Srilakshmi in the same case.

Andhra Pradesh High Court suspended him on May 31 while transferring the matter to state ACB, which registered a case against him and seven others, including Chalapathi Rao and Janardhan Reddy's elder brother and Bellary city MLA Gali Somashekhar Reddy.