OMC case: Suspended IAS officer remanded in judicial custody

Suspended IAS officer Y Srilakshmi, an accused in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) scam involving ex-Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, on Thursday surrendered before a special CBI court which remanded her to judicial custody till March 25. Srilakshmi was later taken to Chanchalguda Woman Prison on the directives of Principal Special Court for CBI cases. Srilakshmi, the sixth-accused in the OMC case, was on interim bail on health grounds, which expired yesterday and hence, the court had directed her to surrender. The court further directed the Chanchalguda Central Prison authorities to take her to Osmania General Hospital for check-up and produce her medical reports on March 25. Based on the medical report, the court, on the same date, will give its final order on whether to extend her bail or cancel it. Earlier, Srilakshmi, through her counsel, urged the court to extend the interim bail till completion of investigation in the case, saying she was taking treatment for regaining the lost sensation in her left lower limb in CMC Hospital at Vellore in Tamil Nadu and the recovery process was not complete yet. CBI, however, had opposed her plea arguing that she was involved in several other cases apart from the illegal mining case. A 1988 batch IAS officer, Srilakshmi was the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare when she was arrested on November 28, 2011, by the CBI for allegedly abusing her earlier official position as the secretary (Industries and Commerce) to favour OMC in allotment of mining leases in nexus with Reddy and others. The agency, in its supplementary charge sheet filed in the OMC case on March 30 last year, had named Srilakshmi as a co-conspirator.