Hyderabad, Feb 5: State CPI secretary Dr K Narayana here on Sunday lamented that while senior IAS Officer Srilakshmi was cooling her heels in the prison for her alleged complicity in the Obulapuram Mining Company fraud case, then minister of Mines and Geology P. Sabita Indra Reddy, who was also equally responsible for the OMC scam, was roaming scot-free and enjoying power as Home Minister. 

Speaking to media persons, the CPI leader said that Sabita Indra Reddy should also be brought to book as the huge scam took place when she was the minister for Mines and Geology. He strongly felt that IAS officers cannot take any decision on their own without the knowledge of the minister concerned. 

Stating that IAS officers were not bound to implement illegal orders of the ministers concerned, Narayana suggested to the officers to seek written instructions from the ministers if they find the oral orders of the ministers illegal. 

The CPI leader wondered that while the corrupt politicians (ministers) were roaming scot-free in the society and leading luxurious lives, the IAS officers, who obeyed their political masters, were being arrested and dumped in jails. He also felt that IAS officers could bluntly refuse to follow the illegal instructions of the ministers concerned. Opining that all the IAS officers were not corrupt, he said that this party would stand by them if they launched anti-corruption campaign against the ministers in the State. He also felt that there was no scope for the officers to resort to corrupt activities without the support of politicians. He has asserted that late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his cabinet were principal accused in all the scams which rocked the State since 2004.