Rs 100 cr offered to secure Reddy's bail: arrested AP judge

Hyderabad: In a stunning claim, an Andhra Pradesh lower court judge arrested in the cash-for-bail scam, has said that a whopping Rs 100 crore was offered by relatives of former Karnataka minister and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy to secure bail for him.

In a confessional statement to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), K Lakshmi Narasimha Rao, Chief Judge of Small Causes Court, said Dasaradharami Reddy, a relative of Gali Janardhana Reddy, had made the offer, the agency said.

The judge, now suspended, is in judicial custody after being in ACB custody for some days.

The judge said a relative of former Karnataka minister and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy, had made the offer.

According to a remand application filed by the ACB, Narasimha Rao had voluntarily spoken about the bribe for getting the bail for the powerful politician.

"He (Dasaradharami Reddy) had asked to search for a channel to influence the CBI judge for Reddy's release on bail and for which Dasaradharami Reddy was ready to pay even Rs 100 crore," it said.

ACB arrested Narasimha Rao on July 12. According to ACB, Pattabhirama Rao, the CBI Court Judge, granted bail to the former Karnataka minister, arrested in illegal mining case last month after taking a bribe.

Reddy's bail was later cancelled by the High Court. ACB has arrested Pattabhirama Rao, and also family court judge Prabhakar Rao.

"On hearing the said figure of amount, he (Lakshmi Narasimha Rao) was shocked and allured. He planned to convince Naga Maruti Sharma, the CBI Judge who was dealing with Gali Janardhana Reddy's case at the time," as per ACB.

He called Sharma on April 18 to his residence and tried to persuade him. But Naga Sharma declined, the ACB application said.

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