BJP chief Amit Shah calls the video ‘fake’, Balakrishnan denies alleged Rs 160 crore deal with Reddy brothers for favourable judgment in 2010.
New Delhi: As campaigning for a bitterly contested assembly election ended in Karnataka Thursday, the Congress levelled fresh allegations of corruption against Bharatiya Janata Party candidate B. Sriramulu — a close confidant of the Reddy brothers.
In a purported 2010 video, Sriramulu is seen allegedly negotiating a Rs 160 crore deal between mining baron Janardhan Reddy and then Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan for a favourable verdict. The case in the Supreme Court was about allowing mining operations in Andhra Pradesh.
Apart from Sriramulu, Balakrishnan’s son-in-law P.V. Srinijan, and three middlemen — identified as Captain Reddy, Balan and Swamiji Rajnish — are seen in the video.
ThePrint spoke to Balakrishnan, who denied the allegations. BJP President Amit Shah and Srinijan have also denied the allegations.
However, Karnataka Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao responded saying that Shah is no forensic expert to term the video “fake”.
Sriramulu is the BJP candidate from Badami constituency against chief minister Siddaramaiah, as well as from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district. He is currently the Lok Sabha MP from Ballari.
The allegations
In 2009, the Andhra Pradesh government had suspended the mining operations of M/s Obulapuram Mining Co. Pvt Ltd (OMC) owned by the Reddy brothers after cases were brought against the company for flouting regulations in neighbouring Karnataka.
A division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the government directive after OMC challenged it, causing the state government to move the Supreme Court.
On 10 May 2010, a three-judge bench headed by CJI Balakrishnan, after “serious thought and deliberations”, allowed OMC to resume mining operations in Andhra Pradesh, except for areas that are 100 to 150 metres from the Karnataka border.
Justices Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan were also part of the bench. The ruling was delivered just a day before Balarishnan retired.
In 2017, the Supreme Court refused to probe allegations against Balakrishnan in a plea filed by non-profit Common Cause. The NGO had alleged that the judge and his kin had amassed disproportionate assets between 2007 and 2010, when he was CJI.