In a major relief for Ex Minister and TRS MLA Sabitha Indra Reddy, a special court has acquitted her in the high-profile Obulapuram mining case, bringing a 14-year-long legal battle to an end. The case, filed in 2011, alleged large-scale illegal mining activities that caused a loss of approximately ₹880 crore to the exchequer.
While the court found former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, Obulapuram Mining Company MD Srinivas Reddy, former mining director VD Rajgopal, and Gali’s personal assistant Ali Khan guilty, sentencing them to seven years imprisonment and a ₹1 lakh fine, Sabitha Indra Reddy and retired IAS officer Kripanandam were given cleanchit.
Sabitha Indra Reddy, who served as the Mines Minister between 2004 and 2009, had been under the scanner due to her administrative role during the period when the alleged illegal mining took place. Her acquittal marks a significant personal and political victory, as she had consistently denied any wrongdoing.
The verdict has brought closure to one of the most prominent mining cases in India, which revolved around the illegal excavation of iron ore beyond permitted boundaries in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district.
