E-Paper
Telangana HC acquits IAS officer in Obulapuram mining case
A division bench of the high court quashed the charges framed against Srilakshmi, who is currently the special chief secretary (municipal administration and urban development) in the Andhra Pradesh government.
Hyderabad Telangana high court on Tuesday acquitted senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Yerra Srilakshmi in the sensational illegal mining case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Obulapuram Mining Company involving former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.
A division bench of the high court quashed the charges framed against Srilakshmi, who is currently the special chief secretary (municipal administration and urban development) in the Andhra Pradesh government.
Dismissing the charge sheet filed against the 1988-batch IAS officer of Andhra cadre on March 30, 2012, the high court said the CBI failed to substantiate the charges framed against her proving her role in the alleged illegal mining activity by the OMC in Bellary reserve forest in Anantapur.
On November 28, 2011, the CBI arrested Srilakshmi in the illegal mining case on the ground that she, in the capacity of then Principal Secretary (industries and commerce), was instrumental in issuing the controversial order that helped the Bellary mine lord export iron ore from Obulapuram mines, which were supposed to be captive mines for his proposed Brahmani steel plant in Kadapa.
The agency had claimed that Srilakshmi connived with OMC promoter and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy in granting mining leases in Anantapur. She was named accused No. 3 in the illegal mining case and was booked under various sections of IPC, besides Mines Act, Forest Act and Anti-Corruption Act.
A day later, Srilakshmi was sent to judicial custody for two weeks. On December 1, she was suspended from service. She came out on bail on December 2, 2011 but was back in jail on January 2, 2012 after her bail was cancelled by a CBI court and remained in jail till October 2012.
Srilakshmi filed a series of discharge petitions in the trial court, but they were quashed. Even as the trial was going on, she was allotted the Telangana cadre post-bifurcation of the combined state. In 2016, the Telangana government revoked her suspension.
However, she moved the Central Administrative Tribunal to shift her to Andhra Pradesh cadre, as she was from Visakhapatnam. In 2020, she was allotted Andhra cadre and was inducted into the Jagan Mohan Reddy government as principal secretary (municipal administration and urban development). In 2021, she was promoted as special chief secretary.
Because of her seniority, Srilakshmi is the front runner for the chief secretary’s post and Tuesday’s order by the high court cleared the decks for her elevation.
