In yet another setback to senior IAS officer and special chief secretary (municipal administration) Y Srilakshmi, the Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday dismissed her review petition on condoning the punishment given to her and seven other IAS officers for contempt of court.
Srilakshmi requested that the high court to cancel the punishment given to her, asking her to do one-day service in social welfare hostels and bear expenses for the one-day meals of the students.
However, the high court said it had already reduced the punishment from four week’s imprisonment to one-day service in social welfare hostels. This cannot be reduced further, the court said.
Early this month, the high court y directed eight IAS officers, including Srilakshmi, to spend one day every month in social welfare hostels for 12 months and serve food to students with own expenses.
They were convicted in a contempt case for not implementing the court’s orders on removal of village secretariats and Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) from the premises of educational institutions.
Srilakshmi filed the appeal petition seeking directions to alter the punishment as she may not be able to travel to social welfare schools every month.
Arguing on behalf of Srilakshmi, additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy said the court could review its judgement in contempt cases, and cited various judgements of the high court on similar issues.
Advocate general S Sriram, who has been assisting the court in contempt cases, also said there is no bar on review in contempt cases.