The prosecution against IAS officials involved in CBI cases may take a curious turn with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy considering sanction of prosecution or its denial in a case-to-case approach. The Chief Minister is likely to take a final decision in a day or two and convey to the Centre a clear “yes” or “no” to prosecution of bureaucrats like B.P. Acharya and L.V. Subrahmanyam whom the CBI has named as accused in the Emaar case.
“Sanction of prosecution against officials will be based on merits and the same approach will be followed in the future,” revealed sources close to the CM, adding that the CM would have to take similar decisions with regard to Y. Srilakshmi, accused in the mine scam and G. Venkatarami Reddy, accused in Jagan’s assets case. Sources said the CM was of the view that action or inaction against the officials, as the case may be, should not be measured with the same yard stick. The government shall also look into the impact of the officer’s decision on the state’s interests.
Mr Subrahmanyam, who is currently the executive officer of TTD, may escape prosecution as the top brass of the administration were convinced that he only implemented the recommendations of the cabinet sub-committee headed by the then finance minister K. Rosaiah. On the other hand, Mr Acharya chose not to inform the government about the agreements with Emaar MGF which dented the revenue to the state. In the case of Ms. Srilakshmi, sources said, the powers that be would ascertain the veracity of CBI's allegations of monetary benefits the officer received in return of the decisions.
Meanwhile, Mr Subrahmanyam met the CM as well as chief secretary Pankaj Dwivedi and GAD (political) principal secretary Ajay Mishra. Sources said he was upset about media reports about him being shunted but the CS reportedly told him to concentrate on his job.