The Anti-Corruption Bureau on Saturday issued an FIR against suspended CBI special court judge T. Pattabhi Rama Rao and seven others, including two Karnataka MLAs, in the Gali Janardhan Reddy cash-for-bail case.
CCTV footage from Daspalla Hotel in Banjara Hills, where the accused had met, has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory and the CBI has also collected call details and bank locker footage of the accused and handed over them to the ACB.
The judge and the other accused has been booked for criminal conspiracy, common intention, abetment and public servant in judicial proceeding corruptly making a report contrary to sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
On June 7, the high court registrar, vigilance, had written to the CBI asking it to move the state government to get approval under Sections 5 and 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act. The CBI was also asked to file a complaint with the ACB.
CBI additional SP R.M. Khan, who is also the investigating officer of the Obulapuram mining scam case, filed a complaint with the ACB on Friday and an FIR was issued against Mr Pattabhi Rama Rao, Karnataka MLAs Gali Somasekhara Reddy and T.H. Suresh Babu, Mr Pattabhi Rama Rao’s son Ravi Chandra, advocate T. Aditya, rowdy sheeter Yadagiri and others.
The CBI has also seized around `2.74 crore from lockers in Corporation Bank and SBI in Secunderabad belonging to the middlemen, retired judge Chalapathi Rao and his brother Balaji Rao.
In its complaint, the CBI has stated that Yadagiri had first contacted Mr Chalapathi Rao and advocate Aditya.
Following this Mr Somasekhara Reddy came into the picture and agreed to bring the money as per the deal. Five lockers were taken in Corporation Bank in Ashoknagar of which three didn’t have a name attached to them. The other two were in Mr Chalapathi Rao’s name. The lockers’ keys were handed over to Mr Pattabhi Rama’s son Ravi Chandra by Mr Chalapathi Rao.