SC rejects plea of ex-K'taka minister for nod to go to Bellary

The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea of mining baron and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy seeking modification of bail condition that he should be allowed to go to his hometown Bellary.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan dismissed Reddy's plea seeking modification of bail order which restricts him from visiting Kadapa and Bellary districts.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Reddy, said said he has always complied with the bail conditions imposed by the court and never violated them.
"My family resides in Bellary. I have a house there but I am living in Bangalore since bail was granted to me by the court. This case has not started as a boundary dispute is pending before the apex court," Rohatgi said.

"Whenever, I was allowed to visit my hometowm, I had complied with all the conditions. Please modify the conditions so that I can stay there," he said.
Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh appearing for CBI said the foundation of Reddy's release on bail was the condition that he would not visit Bellary and Kadapa districts. He said they had sought modification of the condition even after his release in 2015.

The bench, after hearing the arguments, dismissed the petition of the mining baron, who was arrested and jailed in connection with an illegal mining case involving his Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC).

The apex court had granted bail to Reddy subject to conditions that he had to furnish two sureties of Rs 10 lakh each and he will not leave the country without the permission of the court. He is facing several criminal cases and was lodged in a jail in Andhra Pradesh.
Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, Managing Director of OMC, were arrested by CBI on September 5, 2011 from Bellary in Karnataka and brought to Hyderabad.
In the OMC case, the company is accused of changing the mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Bellary Reserve Forest area, spread over Bellary in Karnataka and Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.