Did top cop object to withdrawal of Reddy cases?

March 11, 2010, Bellary: The state Cabinet which decided to withdraw three criminal cases against ministers G. Janardhan Reddy and B Sriramulu last month, did so despite stiff opposition from the director general and inspector general of police and the law department, according to sources.
In one case, Mr Janardhan Reddy was acccused of demolishing the Suggalamma temple on the Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh border in the Bellary reserve forest area by a temple priest, and in another his company, OMC in Andhra Pradesh was charged with encroaching into Karnataka for mining. Mr Sriramulu faced accusations of threatening MP and Congress leader Anil H Lad during the 2008 assembly elections and damaging his property.
Sunil Kumar, secretary, home and internal security department, told the Cabinet in his confidential official note that the DG and IGP and director of prosecutions saw no reason to withdraw these cases against the two ministers, according to documents available with Deccan Chronicle .
“Permission has been sought to withdraw the intended prosecution of the accused on the ground of inadequacy of evidence. Paucity of evidence cannot be a ground to grant permission for withdrawal of prosecution. No case is made out that withdrawal of prosecution is necessary to promote public justice. The director of police has opposed the proposal for withdrawal of prosecution. Hence, permission for withdrawal of prosecution should not be granted,” Mr Kumar said in his note.
He also referred to a Central Election Commission letter objecting to withdrawal of cases pertaining to violation of the code of conduct in Bellary and other places. But the Cabinet decided to go ahead with withdrawing the cases anyway.
The Reddy Brothers have in the past too succeeded in getting around 13 pending cases against them withdrawn, including 10 cases of violation of the election code of conduct. The Cabinet had withdrawn three criminal suits against Mr Janardhan Reddy and Mr Sriramulu filed by then district conservator of forest Dr P. Rajashekharan for allegedly encroaching into the state's Sandur taluk for illegal mining.