SC allows Janardhana Reddy to visit Ballari for 2 weeks

The Supreme Court on Friday permitted ex-Karnataka Minister and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy to visit Ballari for two weeks from June 8 to attend to his ailing father-in-law.

The top court, however, pulled up the CBI, saying "we are concerned as to why charges have not been framed and the trial has not yet started" in the Rs 35,000 crore mining scam.

A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi allowed a plea by senior advocate S Ganesh seeking permission for Reddy to visit Ballari, his home town for two weeks.

But the court refused to consider his request for diluting the restriction on his visit to Ballari.

Ganesh said on five to six different occasions, this court had allowed Reddy to visit Ballari and there was not a single complaint that he had ever violated his bail condition.

"This time, his father-in-law has suffered a stroke. He had undergone three bypass surgeries. His medical condition is extremely precarious and he is lying in ICU of a hospital over there," he said.

Ganesh also pointed out that in July 2016, there was a direction by the apex court to speed up the trial but charges have yet to be framed.

"The trial seems to be an interminable affair. It is causing unnecessary trouble, so why not remove the condition and allow the petitioner to approach the trial court for permission to visit Ballari," he said.

Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, appearing for the CBI, submitted that Reddy was the main accused in the Rs 35,000 crore mining scam. He was filing the application to permanently remove the restriction on his visit to Ballari.

"Why charges were not framed for six years. We are concerned about the delay in framing the charges," the bench asked her.

To this, the ASG informed the court that the charges could not be framed because some of the co-accused filed an application for discharge which remained pending.

She said the CBI would like to file a detailed reply in the matter.

The court, however, said it was confining itself to his limited prayer to visit Ballari to see his father-in-law.

The court had in March this year dismissed his plea to modify the bail condition for him not to visit Ballari.

He had then contended that the condition barring him to enter Ballari had become redundant. The petitioner has never violated any bail condition, he should be allowed to visit and remain in Ballari as his family and friends lived over there, he had said.

Reddy cannot visit Ballari as per the conditions of the bail granted on January 21, 2015, by the top court.

The top court had in 2015 enlarged Reddy on the bail in a case of illegal mining with a condition that he would not visit Ballari, Ananthpuram and Cuddapah.