BENGALURU: In a big relief for former state minister G Janardhana Reddy on the eve of Varamahalakshmi Vrata, the Supreme Court on Thursday modified his bail conditions and permitted him to visit Ballari district.
Reddy is an accused in a multi-crore illegal mining scam. While granting bail to him on January 20, 2015, the Supreme Court had laid the condition that he should not visit Ballari in Karnataka and Cudappah and Anantapur districts in Andhra Pradesh. tnn
47 witnesses need to be protected: CBI
A bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari said that in case Reddy visits the district of Ballari, he should intimate the same to the superintendents of police of Ballari, Cudappah and Anantapur districts. The bench said the trial court should make every effort to expedite the trial.
Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Ranjit Kumar and advocate Mayank Jain appeared for Reddy and additional solicitor general Madhavi Divan appeared for the CBI. It was contended on behalf of Reddy that he was granted bail after spending more than three and a half years in jail since his arrest in 2011.They argued that
the petitioner has not violated any conditions laid down by the Supreme Court in the past six years since bail was granted. He was allowed to visit Ballari eight times and he never violated any condition.
Further, the court was told that the first chargesheet was filed in 2011 and then two supplementary chargesheets were filed thereafter, but charges have not been framed and trial has not started, and the petitioner is not responsible for the delay.
On the other hand, the CBI argued 47 witnesses (adjacent mine owners) still live in Ballari, they need to be protected if the trial has to go on and there is a serious threat perception as well as the possibility of the entire case falling apart if they turn hostile.
