Reddy can’t campaign in Bellary, rules court

New Delhi: Former Karnataka minister and controversial mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy suffered a setback on Friday with the Supreme Court refusing him permission to visit Bellary and campaign for his brother Somasekar Reddy, who is contesting the Assembly polls in Karnataka.

Mr Reddy, who was granted bail by the apex court in January 2015, was asked not to visit his hometown Bellary without court’s permission. He was released after remaining in jail since March 2011 in the illegal mining case.

Counsel for Mr Reddy pleaded before a bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan that as he had complied with the condition for over three years, it might be relaxed to enable him to visit and stay in Bellary. It was submitted that he has to visit his hometown to vote and be permitted to stay there till the polls to campaign for his brother.  

Additional solicitor-general Maninder Singh for the CBI, however, brought to the notice of the court that one of the conditions for bail was that he should stay outside Bellary and this condition should not be relaxed.