Telangana High Court stays conviction of Karnataka MLA G Janardhana Reddy in illegal mining case

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday suspended the sentence and conviction of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy in the Obulapuram illegal mining case.

A trial court on May 6 had awarded a sentence of seven years to Reddy, who is a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Gangawati constituency. The sentence meant he stood disqualified from the Karnataka assembly. However, with the stay on his conviction, he will be able to retain his seat.

Reddy's plea for suspension of sentence was today listed before Justice K Lakshman. The Court noted that Reddy has already completed 50 percent of his sentence. It also observed that the Election Commission of India will issue a notification for by-elections if his conviction is not suspended.

"In the light of the same, this Court is of the prima facie view that if conviction is not suspended, the petitioner, sitting MLA, who gained confidence of the People, would not be in a position to represent his constituency people. Therefore, this Court is inclined to suspend the conviction recorded by the Special Court vide impugned judgment," the Court added.

Reddy had been in jail in the case from September 2011 till January 2015. He was again taken into custody on May 06, following his conviction by Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, the Court today also granted bail to VD Rajagopal, K Mehfuz Ali Khan and BV Srinivasa Reddy, who have also been convicted in the case.

The conviction order against Obulapuram Mining Company has also been stayed.

Senior Advocate S Nagamuthu, B Nalin Kumar and PB Suresh with advocates Mayank Jain and Vimal Varma Vasireddy appeared in the matter.

Special Public Prosecutor Srinivas Kapatia appeared for the CBI.

[Read Order]