Judge held; DGP, top cop in the dock :- 20.6.12-TOI

Cash-For-Bail: Law Catches Up With CBI Judge Pattabhi

Hyderabad: Suspended CBI judge T Pattabhirama Rao was arrested in the cash-for-bail case in an early morning swoop on his residence by ACB officials on Tuesday. The judge has been charged with granting bail to illegal mining case accused Gali Janardhan Reddy in return for a certain sum of money. Gali’s brother and Karnataka MLA Somesekhar Reddy and a retired district judge are among the other accused in the case that was booked by the ACB last week.
    Five ACB officers landed at Pattabhirama Rao’s house located at Judge’s Quarters in Banjara Hills around 6.30 am on Tuesday and after quizzing him for some time, took him into custody. Pattabhirama Rao is a former ACB judge and his residence is opposite that of the current ACB judge, in front of whom he was produced later in the day.
    After the arrest, Pattabhirama Rao was brought to the ACB office located next to Moazam Jahi Market where he was further interrogated. ACB sleuths have already arrested Pattabhirama Rao’s son T Ravi Chandra and former judge Chalapathi Rao in the cash-for-bail case.
2 CBI judges shifted
    In yet another shake-up in the CBI court that is handling several high-profile cases, the AP High Court on Tuesday shunted out special judge B Nagamaruti Sarma and brought in M V Ramesh, a Vijayawada family court judge, in his place. The HC also appointed U Durga Prasad Rao as CBI principal special judge in place of A Pullaiah. P3 ‘Judge confesses to taking bribe’
Hyderabad:Based on the information provided by Ravi and Chalapathi Rao during their interrogation and the statement given by Corporation Bank manager Bura Naik about how the accused opened and operated five lockers in the bank, police confronted the judge with various questions regarding the cash-for-bail deal.
    According to sources, during interrogation, Pattabhirama Rao confessed to having committed the offence. “Pattabhirama Rao confessed that he had granted bail to Gali Janardhan Reddy after striking a deal with Gali’s aides for his share of Rs 5 crore,” an ACB official said. The money that was found in the Corporation Bank lockers belong to Pattabhirama Rao and that was the reason why the locker keys were in the possession of his son Ravi Chandra, the sleuths said.
    Explaining the cash flow, ACB officials said Gali’s aides were the source of the money and that it was handed over to Ravi Chandra through a common contact deputed by absconding accused Yadgiri Rao of Nacharam. According to sources, the entire deal was struck for Rs 10 crore including payment for other intermediaries and of the entire sum, the ACB has so far managed to seize about Rs 2.74 crore from the bank lockers and family members of Chalapathi Rao. Five accused in the case are still at large.
    During the interrogation of Pattabhirama Rao, doctors from NIMS visited the ACB office and examined his health condition. He was later taken to Osmania General Hospital for a medical test and then produced before Principal Special Judge for ACB & SPE cases. He was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days and shifted to Cherlapally prison.
    Following the arrest of Pattabhirama Rao, media channels began speculating that special ACB teams have been sent to Bellary in Karnataka to arrest Gali’s brother Somasekhar Reddy and another Karnataka MLA Suresh Babu, who are named as accused in the same case. However, ACB DG B Prasada Rao told TOI that no teams have been sent to Bellary.