Arnab Goswamy kicks out Republic Kannada Editor Shobha after Ballari interviews 

Bengaluru

In an overnight development, Republic Media Network (RMN), headed by Editor-in-Chief Arnab Ranjan Goswami, has shown the door to Republic Kannada Editor Shobha Malavalli. The development comes just days after she interviewed MLA Gali Janardhan Reddy and his spouse Aruna Lakshmi.

Top sources in the editorial department, speaking to blrpost.com, said that after Goswami received complaints alleging impropriety over the interviews aired on the channel, Malavalli was asked to resign. She exited the organisation on Thursday night (January 15, 2026). There is no clarity on her future plans.

Sources said certain developments preceding the interviews allegedly raised questions of editorial impropriety, and the matter was subsequently briefed to Goswami. The resignation was handled directly from RMN’s head office. The interviews were conducted in the backdrop of a clash between Janardhan Reddy and Nara Bharath Reddy at Ballari. During the clash over a banner, a Congress worker was killed by a bullet. Another bullet was allegedly fired by a gunman linked to Satish Reddy, a relative of Bharath Reddy. The Karnataka Police are currently investigating the incident.

It may be recalled that Republic Kannada had earlier aired several programmes on Dharmasthala, allegedly building narratives favourable to temple authorities. Activists’ efforts to seek justice were, according to critics, wrongly portrayed as attempts to “defame the temple.” Top sources claimed that Goswami was deliberately misled by a section of the editorial team within RMN’s Kannada unit.

According to sources, ever since the Dharmasthala shows with an editorial slant perceived as supportive of the temple authorities began airing, Malavalli had been facing allegations of impropriety. However, these concerns had reportedly not reached Goswami’s desk. In the case of the Reddy interviews, however, a formal case was built against her, ultimately leading to her resignation.

Case History of Janardhan Reddy

Reddy, a controversial mining baron and former Karnataka minister, continues to be embroiled in multiple legal cases.

Reddy’s legal troubles stem from a series of high-profile cases, largely linked to illegal mining and alleged financial misconduct. The most significant among them is the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case.

In May 2025, a special CBI court in Hyderabad convicted Reddy, listed as Accused No. 2, and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment. The court found him guilty of criminal conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust and forgery under the Indian Penal Code, along with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The case pertained to large-scale illegal iron ore mining carried out between 2007 and 2009 in the Bellary Reserve Forest area, which investigators said caused a loss of ₹884.13 crore to the public exchequer. However, in June 2025, the Telangana High Court stayed both the conviction and the sentence, granting Reddy conditional bail. This allowed him to contest by-elections and continue representing his constituency.

Beyond the OMC case, Reddy faces several other serious allegations. In the Associated Mining Company (AMC) case, the CBI has accused him of facilitating the illegal extraction of iron ore from leased mining areas in Bellary.

Another major case relates to the alleged illegal export of iron ore from Belekeri port in Karnataka, for which the CBI has filed multiple charge sheets over the years. Reddy has also been accused in the sensational cash-for-bail case, in which he allegedly attempted to bribe a CBI judge in 2012 to secure bail in the mining scam cases.

Additionally, in 2018, he was arrested in connection with the Ambident Group Ponzi scheme, where he was accused of receiving gold bars in exchange for shielding the company from an Enforcement Directorate investigation. As of early 2024, at least nine CBI cases against Janardhan Reddy were still pending, underscoring the prolonged and complex legal battles he continues to face.