Hyderabad: A special CBI court in Hyderabad on Wednesday framed charges against former IAS officer Y Srilaxmi in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case. The charges include criminal conspiracy under Section 120B read with Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.Srilaxmi denied the charges, pleaded innocence and sought a trial. The court posted the matter to Oct 16 to fix the trial schedule.Srilaxmi, who was industries secretary when the alleged irregularities occurred, appeared before principal special judge for CBI cases Pattabhirama Rao, who explained the charges to her in Telugu and English.The case concerns alleged irregularities in mining leases granted to OMC in D Hirehal and Obulapuram in Anantapur district. The CBI alleged that Srilaxmi took decisions favouring the company in the grant of leases covering 68.5 hectares and 39.5 hectares. The agency also accused her of rejecting applications by Sathavahana Ispat Ltd and GimpEx Pvt Ltd and omitting the term “captive mining” from a govt order.Srilaxmi had initially approached the high court seeking to quash the CBI case, but the court refused, citing prima facie material. Her subsequent plea to stay the trial pending resolution of a boundary dispute before the Supreme Court was also rejected.She later filed a discharge petition before the CBI court, which dismissed it. High court initially quashed the case against her while hearing a revision petition, prompting the CBI to approach the Supreme Court.The Supreme Court remitted the matter to high court for fresh consideration. On July 28 last year, high court again refused to quash the case. Srilaxmi subsequently moved the Supreme Court, which dismissed her petition on Feb 17.
