The case dates back to 2009, when the CBI found that the then YSR government favoured OMC (Obulapuram Mining Company) in granting iron ore mining leases in Obulapuram, Andhra Pradesh.
Published May 06, 2025 | 4:45 PM ⚊ Updated May 06, 2025 | 5:15 PM
Mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy. (Creative Commons)
Synopsis: In the Obulapuram mining case verdict on 6 May, a CBI court convicted Gali Janardhan Reddy and three others for illegal mining, causing ₹884 crore loss. BRS MLA Sabitha Indra Reddy and ex-IAS officer Kripanandam were acquitted. The case, dating back to 2009, exposed large-scale corruption and land misuse under the YSR government in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
The CBI court in Hyderabad on Tuesday, 6 May, in its verdict in the Obulapuram mining case, found former Karnataka Minister and current MLA aligned with the BJP, Gali Janardhan Reddy guilty.
Reddy along with BV Srinivasa Reddy, Mefaz Ali Khan, VD Rajagopal were convicted while BRS MLA Sabitha Indra Reddy and former IAS officer Kripanandam were acquitted.
The CBI court has reportedly sentenced Gali Janardhan Reddy and the other convicts to seven years. As per provisions of existing laws for people’s representatives, the CBI court verdict should immediately lead to Reddy’s disqualification as MLA in the Karnataka legislative assembly.
The case pertains to the illegal mining operations in the Bellary reserve forest in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
It dates back to 2009, when the CBI found that the then YS Rajasekhara Reddy government favoured OMC (Obulapuram Mining Company) in granting iron ore mining leases in Obulapuram, Andhra Pradesh.
Following an investigation, a centrally powered committee of the Supreme Court uncovered significant violations by Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC).
It also declared the mining lease granted to the company — which was run by Janardhana Reddy and his family — by the YS Rajashekar Reddy government illegal.
Gali Janardhan Reddy was allotted 10,760 acres of government land by the YSR government in 2007 for the setting up of a ₹20,000-crore captive steel plant.
As a remedy, the committee recommended suspending mining activities until boundary pillars were erected and boundary posts laid along the state border.
Responding to these findings, the Congress government under K Rosaiah in Andhra Pradesh suspended mining operations by Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) and requested a CBI investigation in December 2009. Since then the central agency has interrogated 219 witnesses and investigated 3,400 documents.
The agency filed its first chargesheet in December 2011. In total, four chargesheets were submitted against nine individuals.
The CBI chargesheet states that Gali and Co. illegally mined iron ore beyond their lease areas, including in Karnataka’s forest lands, causing a loss of ₹884.13 crore to the exchequer.
The initial accused in the case include:
According to an ETV Bharat report, the accused have been charged under IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 468 and 471 (forgery) and Prevention of Corruption Act Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(d).
Among the accused, R Linga Reddy, who had allegedly played a key role in ensuring OMC received these leases while ignoring 23 other applicant, had died during the course of the case.
Meanwhile, IAS officer Y Srilakshmi was acquitted by the Telangana High Court in 2022. According to a Bussiness Standard report, the high court gave her a clean chit in the decade-old case, in which she had spent several months in jail. The court had also quashed the additional charge sheet filed by the CBI citing lack of evidence.
The CBI had alleged that Srilakshmi misused her office during her term from 2007 to 2009 as secretary, industries and commerce in the government of then united Andhra Pradesh. She was in jail from November 2011 to October 2012.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Sai Charan Sana)
