Cash-for-bail: Reddy was Ready to Offer Rs 100 cr, says ACB

Hyderabad, Jul 21 (PTI): A lower court judge arrested in a case related to cash-for-bail scam involving former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy, has allegedly said that Reddy's relatives were ready to offer as much as Rs 100 crore to secure bail for him.

K Lakshmi Narasimha Rao, Chief Judge of Small Causes Court, arrested by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau, confessed that Dasaradharami Reddy, a relative of Gali Janardhana Reddy, had made the offer, according to a remand application filed by the ACB a few days ago.

The judge, now suspended, is in the judicial custody after being in ACB custody for some days. "...Narasimha Rao voluntarily stated that Krishna Prasad, who is an auditor, and one Venkateswara Rao, relative of him, approached Narasimha Rao in the second week of April, 2012 and said that Dasaradharami Reddy, a relative of Gali Janardhana Reddy, is known to him.

"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," the remand application 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 Naga Maruti Sharma on April 18 to his residence and tried to persuade him, but Naga Maruti Sharma  declined, the ACB application said.