-The Times of India
The Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday set aside the trial court order granting bail to former Karnataka minister and prime accused in an illegal mining case, Gali Janardhan Reddy.
The judge who granted bail to Reddy was suspended in May amid allegations of a cash-for-bail scam. The judge, Pattabhirama Rao, is facing criminal charges after being accused of granting bail for a bribe.
The court concurred with the views of CBI special counsel Ashok Bhan, who revealed the shocking sequence of events that culminated in the lodging of an FIR against the judge. "The bail cannot be sustained in view of the cash-for-bail allegations and the subsequent suspension of the trial court judge," the bench said.
Gali’s counsel Rajeev Dhawan told court that CBI spoke of the judge’s involvement, but did not provide any clinching evidence. Pointing to the alleged involvement of the trial court judge’s son in the deal, the counsel said the deal could have been struck without the knowledge of the judge. This argument was shot down by the court.
The high court, however, gave the mining baron the liberty to move a competent trial court for bail.