The Supreme Court of India has overturned the Telangana High Court’s 2022 discharge, which had absolved senior IAS officer Y. Srilakshmi in the high-profile Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) illegal mining case. The apex court has ordered a fresh probe into her alleged involvement, to be completed within three months, and instructed that the previous discharge ruling not influence the ongoing investigation.
Srilakshmi, a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, had been implicated in a major controversy over her alleged role in granting mining leases to OMC, run by mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy, during her tenure as Secretary of Industries and Commerce between 2006 and 2009. Initial charges were filed in 2012; she spent over a year in judicial custody, and while the Telangana High Court quashed her charges in 2022, the CBI challenged that decision before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court found procedural flaws in the High Court’s ruling, particularly regarding evidence reappreciation, and mandated a thorough reexamination of her alleged misconduct. The CBI’s fresh investigation will assess whether Srilakshmi abused her authority in collusion with senior officials, including former Mines Director V. D. Rajagopal, enabling undue benefits to OMC. Legal proceedings are back on track, with heightened scrutiny over bureaucratic accountability in illegal mining cases.
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