Former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy sentenced to seven years for participation in Obulapuram illegal mining scandal

A CBI court sentenced ex-Carnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and three more to seven years in prison regarding the illegal mining of Obulapuram. Reddy, who was elected as MLA from Gangawati as Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha member in May 2023, returned to the BJP on March 25, 2024. Together with the 7-year prison sentence, each convicted was fined with a fine of 10,000 GBP, and the company involved was ordered to pay 1 LAKH. Reddy, who was listed as the second defendant, was detained immediately after the judgment of the CBI.

Almost 14 years after submitting the CBI indictment, a special court submitted its judgment in a case with illegal mining in the Bellary Reserve Forest along the border between Karnataka andhra Pradesh. The case was alleged that Janardhan Reddy and other boundaries of the mountain tree manipulated, not authorized mining operations. The court found Srinivas Reddy (A1), Managing Director of the Obulapuram Mining Society and Reddy's Schwager, Guilty, together with VD Rajagopal (A3) and Mehafuz Ali Khan (A7), Reddy's personal assistant and former deputy director of Mines and Geology. However, the former minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and the retired bureaucrat B. Krupanandam were acquitted by judge T Raghu Ram, who heads the CBI cases. According to the public prosecutor, the illegal mining activities between 2007 and 2009 led to a loss of 884 billion GBP for the Ministry of Finance.

Gali Janardhan Reddy, once Karnataka Minister and a powerful figure in the iron ore business, especially in the Bellary area, was a controversial figure for a long time due to various legal problems. His political and business career achieved success after being accused of being involved in illegal mining, tax fraud and corruption. He was arrested in 2011 after a report by Lokayukta unveiled its role in illegal mining transactions, which reported the state of immense financial damage. Although a deposit was granted to him in 2015, the court stopped strict restrictions on its movement, including a ban on the entry of places such as Ballari.

Gali Janardhan Reddy, a mountain tree tag, made headlines in 2016 because he was an estimated 75 million US dollars (625,593,750 GBP) for his daughter Brahmani and Rajeev Reddy. In 2011, the authorities discovered several luxury features during a police attack on Reddy's residence, including an indoor swimming pool, a massage salon, a home cinema and even a bomb accommodation. Reports by the Hindustan Times also stated that Reddy's private helicopter Rukmini and some of his cars were confiscated during the raid. During the attack on Reddy's house, the police found a “throne” with a weight of about 15 kg. The chair is said to be Reddy's initial GJR, monogrammed in diamonds, and Reddy claimed that he was even “crowned” in a secret ceremony. According to Hindustan Times, the police confiscated 30 gold at the time of the raids. Reddy's shirts with real golden threads, each with over 1,300 US dollars, were reported. He was also known to wear a belt crusted with jewels worth around 17,500 US dollars.

The Obulapuram mining fraud includes illegal iron ore mining and extensive tax evasion associated with the Obulapuram mining company (OMC), which includes the influential Reddy brothers from Karnataka, including the former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, together with its narrow ally, former state health minister B Sriramulu.

Investigations discovered that OMC had completed a questionable agreement with a Shell company based in Singapore, GLA Trading International (Glati), in order to undergo sales and to avoid taxes in India. Glati with offices in tax havens like Singapore, Dubai and the British Virgin Islands was checked by Gali Janardhan Reddy. The agreement included complex transactions that aimed to hide the income and to avoid payment of license fees, which led to significant financial losses for the government. In 2009 the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated an investigation after the governments of Central and Andhra Pradesh were ordered. This happened after income tax laws have suppressed and united money laundering activities in the amount of rupees within the framework of rupees.