Denying any involvement in what is being referred to as 'bailgate', Law minister Erasu Pratap Reddy on Saturday threatened to move the Press Council against a section of the media for maligning him. “I will quit active politics and take sanyas if my involvement is proved in the alleged affair,” Mr Pratap Reddy said. The minister was reacting to some media reports that he was one of the mediators in the alleged kickbacks given to a CBI court judge to deliver a favourable verdict on mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy’s bail petition
In an effort to tackle the crisis, Mr Pratap Reddy cut short his tour to Kurnool district and returned to the capital on Saturday to meet Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and offer his explanation. But since the CM had left for Bengaluru by the time he reached the Camp Office, Mr Pratap Reddy spoke to him on phone. He said that he was not involved in any mediation efforts to bail out Mr Janardhan Reddy even though he was a distant relative.