A CBI court has extended till April 7 the judicial custody of former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy and his personal assistant Mehfuz Ali Khan, arrested in connection with an illegal mining case.
Additional Civil and Sessions Court Judge and CBI special court judge B M Angadi passed the order after the CBI moved an application seeking extension of the custody. Associated Mining Corporation (AMC) and Deccan Mining Syndicate (DMC) owned by Reddy and his wife Aruna Lakshmi have been facing probe over charges of illegal mining.
Reddy and Khan, lodged in Bangalore central prison, were produced in the court via video-conferencing. Meanwhile, hearing on bail pleas of Reddy and Khan was fixed for April 7 by the judge.
Meanwhile, in a setback to the senior woman IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh, Y Srilakshmi, allegedly involved in the Obulapuram mining scam along with the Reddy brothers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant her bail. The apex court said it was not inclined to grant her any relief at this stage as the CBI had filed its supplementary chargesheet and it would be appropriate if the officer makes a fresh bail plea before the court concerned.
Srilakshmi had moved the apex court challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court order cancelling her bail, granted by the special CBI judge. The high court had cancelled the bail on the grounds that she had the propensity to tamper with the evidence and influence the witnesses. Additional Solicitor General Vivek Tankha appearing for the CBI opposed Srilakshmi’s bail plea, saying her presence was still necessary for the investigating agency.
Senior counsel L Nageswara Rao, appearing for Srilakshmi, however, argued that the officer was willing to cooperate with the investigating agencies and that there was no threat from her to witnesses. He submitted as the investigation has been completed and the supplementary chargesheet filed, there was no need to detain her further as it would be violative of her Right to Life and Liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The bench, however, was not convinced with the argument and asked the IAS officer to approach the CBI court afresh.
