The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday granted bail to former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy in cash-for-bail controversy.
However, the mining baron will remain behind the bars as he is yet to get bail in Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) scam, the main case against him. He is currently lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail here.
A court of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cases earlier this month had dismissed Janardhana Reddy's bail plea in cash-for-bail case. He had subsequently moved the high court.
The ACB last week filed a supplementary charge sheet naming him as an accused in the first case registered against the suspended CBI judge T. Pattabhirama Rao and seven others. He is accused of conspiring to get bail by bribing the judge.
The ACB's first charge sheet of Aug 13 had charged Rao and others with entering into a conspiracy. The second charge sheet, filed Sep 6 against seven people including Reddy, pertains to another attempt to bribe Rao.
The high court earlier this month granted bail to Rao, his son, two other serving judges and a retired judge.
Janardhana Reddy's brother G. Somasekhara Reddy and his relative T.H. Suresh Babu, both members of the Karnataka assembly, were also released on bail.
Pattabhirama Rao had granted bail to Janardhana Reddy in the OMC case in May after receiving a Rs.9.5-crore bribe from his relatives through a rowdy sheeter.
After the controversy came to light in June, the high court suspended the judge and cancelled the bail.
The ACB booked a second case for investigation, which revealed that Janardhana Reddy's family had earlier tried to bribe Rao through two other judges.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the former Karnataka minister in September last year in OMC case, pertaining to the irregularities committed by his company in iron ore mining in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district.
In March this year, he was shifted to Bangalore for hearing into another illegal mining case there. He was brought to Hyderabad last month on prisoner transit warrant in cash-for-bail case.