SC declines interim bail to senior woman IAS officer
The Supreme Court today posted to February 27 hearing on the interim bail plea of Andhra Pradesh IAS officer Y Srilakshmi, one of the accused in the Obulapuram Mining Company case involving Karnataka's Reddy brothers.
A bench of justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad said it would examine the reply filed by the CBI opposing the bail plea and pass necessary orders thereafter.
The CBI through Additional Solicitor General Vivek Tankha, opposed her bail plea on the ground that she was a senior IAS officer and her husband, being an IPS officer, there was a possibility of the accused tampering with the evidence and witnesses.
At the last hearing senior counsel L Nageswara Rao and Mukul Rohtagi had given an assurance that the woman IAS officer was "willing to move out of the state" to avoid any apprehension of her interfering with the investigation process.
The high court had earlier cancelled Srilakshmi's bail granted by a special CBI court in Hyderabad and directed her to surrender before January 6, upon which she moved the apex court.
However, the Supreme Court too had at that time refused to interfere with the order, following which she surrendered.
The special CBI court in Hyderabad had earlier granted a conditional bail to Srilakshmi, who was holding the charge of Secretary, Mines, at the time of the alleged scam in 2007 and was arrested on a charge of abusing the official position to grant favours to former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy-owned OMC.
On December 2, the high court reversed the order and asked the 1988-batch suspended officer to surrender before the CBI special court by January 6.
The high court had said Srilakshmi had betrayed her official duty and did not deserve the bail, which it said the lower court had granted wrongly.
