The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday filed its first chargesheet against former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and three others in the illegal iron ore mining case.
The chargesheet has been filed against the accused under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13 (2 ) read with 13 (1) (d) (criminal misconduct) of Prevention of Corruption Act.
While Gail, owner of Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), is the prime accused in the case, the three others named in the chargesheet are BV Srinivasa Reddy, managing director of OMC, VD Rajagopal, then Director, Mines & Geology of AP government, and a former lower level official of the same department who died.
Interestingly, the name of serving senior IAS officer Y Srilakshmi, who figured in the FIR and was given bail after spending a couple of days in police custody and a day in jail , was not included in the chargesheet.
Explaining the reasons for not including her name, CBI joint director VV Lakshminarayana said the agency was yet to get the sanction of her prosecution from the Centre besides the investigation into her role was still on.
“Under Section 19 (All India Service Rules), sanction for her prosecution is required. Apart from this, we need to confirm the details gathered from the officer during the interrogation. As the investigation progresses, we may file supplementary chargesheets naming other people in this case,” he told the media when asked as to why the names of Srilakshmi or state home minister Sabita Indra Reddy, who held the mining portfolio at the time of issuing the orders granting of mining lease in over 60 hectares by YS Rajasekhara Reddy government, were not included.
The CBI sought the court's permission to continue the investigation into the case.
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The 186-page chargesheet is supported by 607 documents running into 60,000-odd pages along with the statements made by 201 witnesses in this case. “We used scientific investigative methods, including the usage of satellite imagery, advanced technical survey and forensic accounting methods, to determine the location and extent of crime,” the CBI officer said.
Though the investigation was originally based on the premise that the illegal mining was happening within the jurisdiction of Andhra Pradesh where OMC was granted mining leases first in 2002 and then in 2008, the CBI found that these leases were merely used as a front to export high-grade iron ore extracted from Karnataka via Andhra Pradesh.
Though the records show that over 2.5 million tonne iron ore was extracted from these mining leases, the actual extraction done in Obulapuram mines was not more than 600,000 tonnes, according to the CBI.
Apart from the AP case, the CBI has also filed two separate FIRs in the Bangalore branch involving Deccan Mining Syndicate and Associated Mining Company, allegedly owned by Gali. “The investigation in these cases is going on and we have been filing status reports with the Supreme Court from time to time,” Lakshminarayana, who is also heading these cases, said.
Meanwhile, the special court for CBI cases has extended the judicial custody of Gali and his associate till December 15. According to sources, during the in-camera hearing from the local jail, he requested the judge to provide him with a copy of the chargesheet filed against him.
Both Gali and his relative, Srinivasa Reddy, were arrested on September 5 by the investigative agency. The CBI started investigation against OMC in December 2010, a year after the AP government sought central probe into the allegations of illegal mining and encroachment of forest lands by the company when a court stay against the move was vacated.