Orders on Gali special room plea tomorrow

HYDERABAD: Opposing the plea for a special room for Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law BV Srinivas Reddy in the Chanchalguda central prison, the counsel for the CBI on Wednesday filed a counter petition in the Special CBI court contending that the duo have no social status and would not be covered by the AP Prison Act as they are not well-educated.Arguments took place over allotment of a special room for the duo lodged in the central prison over alleged irregularities in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) owned by them. Senior advocate Uma Maheswara Rao, representing Janardhan Reddy, requested the court to allot a special room for Gali Janardhan Reddy and B V Srinivas Reddy considering their social status. Citing the allotment of a special room for disgraced Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju, Rao said duo were also eligible for a special room as per AP  Prison Act section 730. TV Ramana, senior public prosecutor, Special CBI court, opposed the plea arguing that the court had granted a special room for B Ramalinga Raju as he was well-educated and came from a rich family background. “We not only consider social status to allot special rooms for accused as per AP Prison Act, we also consider their educational background. Gali Janardhan Reddy has completed only SSLC and doesn’t fulfil the criteria for allotting a special room,” Ramana contended.After hearing arguments of  both sides, Special CBI Court Magistrate B Naga Maruthi Sharma posted the matter for orders on November 4.