HC reserves order on bail pleas of Reddy, associates

The Madras High Court today reserved its order on the bail pleas of sand mining baron Sekhar Reddy and his two associates, arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of money laundering.
Justice S Bhaskeran reserved orders on the bail pleas of Reddy and his associates K Srinivasulu and Premkumar without specifying any date to deliver his verdict.
The three were arrested by the ED on March 20 following seizure of Rs 34 crore in new Rs 2,000 currency notes last December.
The single-judge bench also reserved its orders on the anticipatory bail applications of two other associates of Reddy, S Ramachandran and K Rathinam, who apprehend arrest for their alleged roles in the same money laundering case.

Principal Sessions Judge A Nazeema Banu had on April 7 rejected the bail pleas of Reddy, Srinivasulu and Premkumar.
The sessions judge, meanwhile, extended today the judicial custody of Reddy and his two associates till May 10.

While Reddy appeared before the sessions court through video conferencing, the other two were produced physically before the judge.
The ED counsel told the court that the Directorate officials would interrogate the three in the prison for five days as per the permission granted earlier.
They have been booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the CBI registered its FIR after seizure of the cash.

The three had been granted bail by a court in the CBI case on March 17.