© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A special court for CBI cases in Bengaluru has ordered the issuance of letters of request to the governments of Switzerland, Singapore, the Isle of Man, and the UAE for information on the financial and banking details of a trading firm allegedly linked to former Karnataka BJP minister G Janardhan Reddy, who is accused of illegal iron ore exports.
The court issued the order on March 4, in connection with four illegal mining cases in Karnataka dating back to 2008-2012 when the BJP was in power, in which the CBI has filed a chargesheet.
Janardhan Reddy, his wife, his associates and several former state officials are accused in the cases.
Together with his brothers, Reddy ran a mining empire in Bellary region till charges related to illegal mining shut the mines down.
On December 25 last year, Reddy, estranged from the BJP, launched his own political party, the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha, which will contest the 2023 Karnataka polls. He claimed his party would follow the ideals of social reformer Basavanna and oppose “the divisive politics pursued in the name of religion and caste” in the state.
In the past few weeks, the CBI has turned up the heat on Reddy. A few days after the launch of his party, the Karnataka High Court allowed a requisition that had been made by the CBI on August 30, 2022, for attachment of his properties.
The CBI told the court that the large-scale illegal mining in Bellary and surrounding areas had “caused wrongful loss of Rs 198 crore to the government exchequer”.
In the latest hearing, the CBI told the special court that proceeds from the illegal export of seven to eight million metric tonnes of iron ore from Bellary, by Reddy’s Associated Mining Company, were parked in the accounts of GLA Trading International Pvt Ltd in foreign countries. The CBI links these accounts to Reddy’s wife G Lakshmi Aruna, whose initials are GLA.
The CBI claims that previous requests for information regarding the existence and bank accounts of GLA Trading in the four regions had not been complied with in the right format by the company.
The CBI told the court that wealth earned through the illegal trade of iron ore “would form part of the proceeds of crime and it is necessary to find and identify the money and initiate legal action”.
The CBI has sought incorporation details of GLA Trading, certified copies of bank statements, details of the owners and authorized signatories, real beneficiaries of the firm, the details of other bank accounts of the firm and its operators, and the relationship of Janardhan Reddy and his wife with the company.
The special judge agreed with the CBI that the submissions by GLA Trading were not in the required format. “Hence, the statement and documents are required in the manner which is admissible under the Indian Evidence Act,” it said, and cleared letters to be sent to the four governments “to provide mutual assistance in the investigation”.
During the period that saw the alleged illegal mining, Reddy was a powerful minister in the BJP government headed by B S Yediyurappa. While out on bail, Reddy is barred from entering Bellary.
Reddy’s brothers G Karunakar Reddy and G Somashekar Reddy, meanwhile, continue to be BJP MLAs, while his close associate Sriramulu is a minister in the state government.
