Bail for BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy

A City court has granted bail to BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy in connection with the defamation suit filed against him by Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy for leveling charges of bribery.

Reddy, who arrived at the Additional Sessions Court in Bangalore in his BMW on Monday in response to summons from the judge, waited patiently in the court hall while his counsel C V Nagesh completed the arguments.

The court granted Reddy bail, but directed him to furnish a surety of Rs 50,000. The court had admitted a defamation suit filed by Chief Minister and Home Minister M P Prakash whom Reddy had accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 1.5 billion from the mine owners of Bellary district.

Meanwhile, Reddy’s writ petition seeking a CBI probe against the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues in the bribery scandal is expected to come up for hearing at the Karnataka High Court.

Reddy told reporters that he was in possession of conclusive evidence to substantiate his charges of bribery against the Chief Minister, Home Minister and Forest Minister C Chennigappa. “The JD (S)-BJP Government will not be able to complete its full term of 40 months”, he said.

He claimed he had withheld the documentary proof in his possession during the recent media conference in view of his pending writ petition in the High Court. “There is more in store for the Chief Minister and his men. The battle has just begun”, he said rubbishing Kumaraswamy’s claim that the bribery episode was a “closed chapter”.