CBI Challenges Acquittal of Sabitha Indira Reddy in OMC Case

Hyderabad: The CBI filed an appeal before the Telangana High Court, challenging the CBI special court’s ruling acquitting former minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and former IAS officer Kripanandam, who are accused in the Obulapuram illegal mining case. It requested the court to quash the verdict delivered by the Hyderabad CBI court on May 8, which declared the then Industries Secretary Kripanandam and the then mines minister Sabita Indra Reddy — the eighth and third accused in the Obulapuram mining case — as innocent.

The appeal came up for hearing on Wednesday before a single bench headed by Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy. When Srinivas Kapatia, counsel for the CBI, was about to present his arguments, the judge intervened, stating that he had previously represented one of the parties and therefore could not proceed with the hearing of this appeal. The hearing was adjourned to Monday, and the registry was directed to keep the file before the concerned judge.

In its appeal, the CBI stated that the two acquitted individuals were involved in a conspiracy to allocate mining leases to the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) in Obulapuram and Antaragangamma Hills in Anantapur district. It stated that they played a key role in the lease of 885 hectares at Antaragangamma Hill, and by granting these leases, OMC illegally moved 20.32 lakh metric tons of ore. On November 9, 2005, a temporary lease was granted to OMC, which Sabitha, as minister, approved.

The CBI further stated that IAS officer Srilakshmi and Sabitha conspired in granting these leases. To favour OMC, applications from Satavahana Ispat Nigam Limited, Gimpex Companies, and others were rejected. Even after the Centre directed otherwise, these applications were rejected without any explanation. Srilakshmi, prioritising leases for OMC’s captive mining needs, omitted the term “captive mining” in the government order (GO) issued while granting leases, which allowed the minerals to be sold in the open market.