Bengaluru, Aug 27: B Naga Maruti Sarma, former CBI special judge has deposed before the ACB court in Hyderabad principal special judge in the infamous cash-for-bail case and revealed he was offered Rs 40 crore for setting mining baron and former BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy free on bail.
The alleged bribe offer was made by then AP High Court registrar (enquiries) K Lakshmi Narasimha Rao reportedly on behalf of Gali’s men in April 2012. The mining baron was then under judicial custody at the Chanchalguda jail after his arrest in Sept 2011 by CBI in the illegal mining case.
“I rejected the offer outright and walked out of the house of the registrar,” Sarma, deposing as a witness, said. He later dismissed Gali’s bail plea, which was pending before him.
The case has now reached the trial stage and the ACB special court (Hyderabad), which recorded Sarma’s evidence, posted it to September 13 for further hearing. Gali was present in court during Sarma’s testimony and on the next hearing the mining baron’s counsel is likely to cross-examine him.
Sarma, in his deposition, said he was posted as the special judge of CBI court in Hyderabad in April 2011. “In the third week of April 2012, HC registrar Narasimha Rao had called me over the phone and conveyed his intent to visit me,” Sarma said.
“As he was my senior and also holding a higher post (HC registrar), I told him that I would visit him instead and took his address. On the morning of April 18, 2012, I went to his house. After general discussion, Narasimha Rao revealed about the ‘proposal’ to release Gali on bail. I refused his proposal and informed him that deviating from the path of the law is death for me. It was at this stage that Narasimha Rao revealed that Gali’s men were prepared to shell out Rs 40 crore for the favour. I bluntly refused his proposal and left his house,” the former CBI judge said.
Subsequently, Pattabhi Rama Rao, Sarma’s successor at the CBI court, had granted bail to the mining baron but was later caught in a joint operation by CBI and ACB officials while allegedly accepting the bribe. He was arrested and sent to jail. In July 2012, the ACB officials arrested Lakshmi Narasimha Rao too.
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