In a setback to the powerful Reddy brothers of Bellary in Karnataka, the Supreme Court, in an interim order on Thursday, stopped mining operations by their company in the Bellary reserve forest along the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border till January 4.

The Supreme Court interim order stayed an Andhra Pradesh High Court order that had permitted mining. The case will now be taken up on January 4.
 
The Andhra Pradesh High Court had recently quashed a state government order suspending mining operations by Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) in the Bellary Reserve Forest of Anantapur district. This had come as a huge relief to Karnataka Ministers Janardhana Reddy and Karunakara Reddy, who own OMC.

The Andhra Pradesh government had ordered suspension of mining activities by the company through a government order on November 25, following a Central Empowered Committee proposal.

The order had also prohibited the lifting of extracted ore in the mining lease area. The Andhra High Court, quashing the state government order, had said, "The action of the government prima facie appears to have been taken without proper application of mind and in a hasty manner."