However, Prabhakar, counsel for Reddy and his brother-in-law, appealed to the court to grant some more time to file a counter to the custody petition of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The CBI special court, however, brushed aside their plea, saying enough time had been given to them to approach the court and file a counter. Reddy’s counsel, arguing against the custody petition, said the CBI could impound the passports of both the accused and pleaded for bail stating that the accused were willing to co-operate with the investigation.

However, CBI counsel P V Ramana argued that the CBI requires more time to question the accused as they refused to co-operate with the investigating authorities during the earlier six-day custody.

“We found crores of rupees at Gali Janardhana Reddy’s residence in Bellary, and we know his influence in Bellary and the OMC mining area. We cannot afford to let him loose at this juncture,” he observed.

The hearing took place almost after a week following a six-day interrogation of the accused by the CBI that came to an end on September 19. The CBI counsel filed a petition in the court seeking a further nine-day-long custody of the accused to interrogate them on illegal mining.