The sensational Obulapuram illegal mining case, involving mining tycoon and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, and the alleged quid pro quo case against YSR Congress Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, both began around the same time.
Both cases were investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and were handled by the same officer — former CBI Joint Director V V Lakshminarayana — who ensured that both Janardhan Reddy and Jagan were sent to jail.
In fact, the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case began slightly earlier, with Janardhan Reddy being arrested on September 5, 2011.
He spent nearly three years and four months in jail before being released in January 2015. Jagan, on the other hand, was arrested in May 2012 and was in jail for 16 months.
Now, more than 13 years later, the case against Gali Janardhan Reddy is nearing its conclusion.
The CBI special court, after hearing arguments from all sides for several years, reserved its judgment on Friday. The verdict will be delivered by Justice T Raghuram on May 6.
The trial included the examination of over 3,400 documents and the interrogation of more than 219 witnesses.
The case centers on the Obulapuram Mining Company and its alleged illegal mining operations.
The accused include B V Srinivas Reddy, Gali Janardhan Reddy, the Obulapuram Mining Company, Gali’s personal assistant Mehfuz Ali Khan, former Director of Mines and Geology V D Rajagopal, retired IAS officer Kripanandam, and former minister Sabitha Indra Reddy.
They have been charged under IPC Sections 120B read with 420, 409, 468, and 471, along with Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case was handed over to the CBI in 2009, and the first charge sheet was filed in 2011.
Subsequently, IAS officer Y Srilakshmi, Mehfuz Ali Khan, and Sabitha Indra Reddy were included in supplementary charge sheets. Legal proceedings faced delays due to multiple discharge and quash petitions filed in the High Court.
During the trial, Srilakshmi was discharged from the case in November 2022. It will be interesting to see how many of the remaining accused are found guilty and sentenced by the court.
With the Janardhan Reddy case approaching a verdict, attention now turns to the pending judgment in Jagan's case.
Several discharge petitions have already been filed, and it remains to be seen what lies ahead for the YSRCP chief.