IAS officer Y Srilakshmi was reportedly named as accused number 15 in the additional chargesheet filed by CBI in the Penna Cements case of YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday.
The Times of India reported:
Srilakshmi, the then secretary of industries and mines department, had allowed several irregularities to take place in Penna Cements in an undue manner. This was done as part of a criminal conspiracy she entered into with other accused like Jagan, Penna Pratap Reddy , then ministers Sabita Indra Reddy (mines), Dharmana Prasada Rao (revenue), Samuel (then revenue secretary), V D Rajagopal (then director of mines and geology) etc.
“The way Srilakshmi kept aside the application of Ultra Tech Cements seeking 304 hectares of limestone mine in Kurnool district and granted a prospecting licence to Penna Cements over the same mine basing on a false recommendation of Rajagopal, was unlawful,” TOI quoted a CBI source as saying.
The CBI had earlier filed an additional charge sheet in the quid-pro-quo case involving YSR Congress chief, listing some former ministers of pre-bifurcation Andhra Pradesh and some retired government officials in it.
The charge sheet pertains to mine and land allocations to Penna Group when Jagan’s father, late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh during 2004 to 2009.
The CBI has filed 11 chargesheets in the case and the trial is ongoing before a local CBI court.
According to the CBI, various companies and individuals made huge investments in Jagan’s businesses when his father was the chief minister. These investments were quid pro quo for government favours such as land allotments, licences, etc, it says.
Jagan, thus, amassed huge wealth misusing the office of his late father, CBI alleges.
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