The Telangana High Court on Friday, August 22, declined to grant interim relief to former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and former irrigation officer T Harish Rao in a petition seeking to quash the report on the Kaleshwaram project submitted by commission led by retired judge Justice PC Ghose.
The report had indicted KCR, Harish Rao and the former Telangana government led by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) over irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief KCR and Harish Rao had filed writ petitions seeking to quash and set aside the report contending that the probe panel headed by Ghose was illegal as it was made against the provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act.
“It appears that the petitioners are apprehensive that action could be taken on the basis of the findings and that any such findings could touch upon the conduct and reputation of the petitioners. This apprehension is misplaced,” the bench of Telangana Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin observed, while dismissing the plea.
After Advocate General Sudarshan Reddy informed the court that the Congress government in Telangana would take action on the report only after deliberations and discussions in the Assembly, the bench said no interim directions were required to be passed.
The Ghose Commission report was submitted to the Cabinet by Telangana irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on August 4. The report implicated former CM KCR and Harish Rao and held them responsible for irregularities in planning, execution, operation and maintenance of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana.
The Commission probed the alleged irregularities in planning, design, construction, quality control, operation and maintenance of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla Barrages of the project.
“Despite an expert committee advising against the Kaleshwaram project, the KCR government deliberately suppressed the report,” the report had stated.