Justice Delivered: Conviction in Karnataka's High-Profile Mining Scandal

Former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and three others were convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison by a CBI court for their roles in the Obulapuram Mining Company illegal mining case. The case took 14 years to conclude, resulting in significant financial losses for the exchequer.

In a landmark judgment, a CBI court in Karnataka convicted former minister and MLA Gali Janardhan Reddy, along with three others, in connection with the Obulapuram Mining Company illegal mining case. The verdict, delivered on Tuesday, marks the end of a 14-year-long legal battle.

The court sentenced Reddy and his co-accused to seven years of imprisonment, levying a fine of Rs 10,000 on each individual and Rs 1 lakh on the company. The case highlights illegal mining practices that caused an estimated Rs 884 crore loss to the exchequer between 2007 and 2009.

Court proceedings revealed attempts to manipulate mining lease boundaries in the Bellary Reserve Forest area. Notably, the court acquitted ex-minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and former bureaucrat B Krupanandam, while convicting other key figures associated with the case.

(With inputs from agencies.)