HYDERABAD: A special CBI court here granted conditional bail to senior IAS officer Y Srilakshmi, arrested on charges of abusing her official position and granting favours to a mining company owned by former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.Later, she was released from the Chanchalguda Central Prison.Enlarging Srilakshmi on bail, special judge B Nagamaruti Sarma, in his order, noted that "the petitioner is a woman and she is not keeping good health, and the whole case as against her is based on documents. As such I find that the citation of CBI may not to be of any help for it in support of their contention to refuse bail to the petitioner." The 1988-batch officer was suspended from the post of Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare yesterday by the Andhra Pradesh government.She was arrested by CBI on November 28 on charges of criminal conspiracy, abusing her official position and showing favours to Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) in her capacity as then secretary of Industries and Commerce Department in 2007.After the end of three-day CBI custody, Srilakshmi was yesterday produced before the court, which sent her to judicial custody till December 12.She was granted bail on a bond of Rs 25,000 and two sureties of like amount. Srilakshmi's husband Gopi Krishna, a senior IPS officer, accompanied her home.The court asked Srilakshmi to make herself available before CBI whenever required for the purpose of investigation and surrender her passport. The development comes even as CBI is set to file charge sheet in the case in a day or two.Other accused in the case are Janardhan Reddy, OMC MD B V Srinivas Reddy and then Mining and Geology Director V D Rajagopal.While seeking bail, Srilakshmi contended before the court that she had issued the order sanctioning mining lease to OMC after approval by the then AP Minister for Mines.Without naming the minister, she said, "It is pertinent to mention that the file was duly processed to the minister concerned and after her approval only, the order was passed." Srilakshmi said she joined as Secretary Industries (Mining) on May 17, 2006, and pointed out "the government of Andhra Pradesh, by its letter dated November 4, 2005, not only granted provisional lease of mines to OMC but also communicated the same to the company to enable it to obtain further clearances from Forest department and Mining Bureau".Referring to the controversy over alleged willful omission of the word 'captive mining' in the government order, Srilakshmi claimed it is without any material, and is in fact contrary to documentary evidence collected by the investigating agency.The officer had also submitted that she is a chronic patient suffering from chest pain and had been undergoing treatment for the past several years.CBI had alleged that Srilakshmi, by abusing her official position, issued two government orders on June 18, 2007, sanctioning mining lease for iron ore in over two stretches of 68.5 hectares and 39.4 hectares in favour of OMC while rejecting other mining applicants.The agency, opposing the bail petition of Srilakshmi, had submitted that "it is not proper to blame the (then) minister as it is the secretary, who should safeguard the interest of the state and guide the minister." The CBI counsel had alleged Srilakshmi was closely involved in criminal conspiracy and had knowledge of the mining scam and of monetary transactions (bribes) for procuring the lease. The prosecution also doubted authenticity of her medical reports.Other accused are currently in jail.
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