Telangana HC adjourns hearing on Kaleshwaram Commission case

Hyderabad, Oct 7 The Telangana High Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing on the petitions by former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao, former Chief Secretary S. K. Joshi and senior IAS officer Smitha Sabharwal, seeking orders to quash the report of the P. C. Ghose Commission that probed the alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin adjourned the hearing to November 12 after the state government sought time to file counter-affidavits.

The court directed the petitioners to file their reply after the government files its counter-affidavits.

It extended till November 12 the interim order restraining the state government from taking any action against the petitioners. The interim order was passed on September 2.

The state government, on September 1, decided to hand over the probe into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had made the announcement in the Assembly after a marathon debate on the Ghose Commission report.

KCR and Harish Rao, who had filed the petitions in August, pressed for an early hearing in view of the government’s decision.

Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy had submitted to the bench that the government has ordered the CBI probe based on the report of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA). He clarified that there is no link between the Ghose Commission and the CBI report.

The High Court had adjourned the hearing for five weeks after directing the Chief Secretary and the Irrigation and Command Area Development Secretary to file detailed counter-affidavits in response to points raised by the petitioners within four weeks. The petitioners were given one week thereafter to file their reply, if any.

The petitioners contended that the very constitution of the Commission should be declared arbitrary and illegal, as it was made against the provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act.

According to them, the Commission made the findings regarding their conduct and reputation without following the prescription of law under 8B and 8C of the Commission of Inquiry Act, and violated the principles of natural justice.

The petitioners argued that the Commission’s report was invalid, prejudicial, scurrilous and defamatory against them.

Headed by former Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose, the one-man commission submitted its report to the Telangana government on July 31.

The Commission was constituted on March 14, 2024, to probe the alleged irregularities in planning, design, construction, quality control, operation and maintenance of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla Barrages of the Kaleshwaram project constructed during the term of the previous BRS government.

The Commission held KCR directly and vicariously accountable for irregularities in planning, execution, completion, operation and maintenance of the Kaleshwaram project. It also indicted Harish Rao, then Chief Secretary Joshi and then secretary to Chief Minister Smitha Sabharwal.

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