Telangana | Ex-HC Judge Withdraws from Inquiry Panel Probing KCR’s Alleged Power Sector Irregularities

Former Chief Justice of Patna High Court L. Narasimha Reddy on Tuesday withdrew from the one-man Commission of Inquiry established by the Telangana government to investigate alleged irregularities in the power sector during the tenure of former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR).

The Supreme Court, which was hearing KCR’s plea alleging bias against the head of the inquiry panel, was informed by Justice (retd) Reddy’s counsel that he no longer wished to be part of the commission.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra acknowledged the submission and allowed the Congress-led state government to replace Justice (retd) Reddy in the Commission of Inquiry. The court also took note of the submissions from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader in this matter.

KCR’s counsel argued that the former judge had made observations about the charges against KCR in a press conference without conducting an inquiry. Following this, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea of the former Telangana chief minister.

Earlier, in a setback to KCR, the Telangana High Court on July 1 dismissed his writ petition, which sought to declare the formation of the Commission of Inquiry to investigate alleged irregularities in the power sector during the BRS rule as illegal.

In his plea, KCR challenged the Telangana government’s order establishing the Commission of Inquiry to conduct a judicial review of the previous administration’s decisions regarding power procurement from Chhattisgarh by Telangana power distribution companies and the construction of the Bhadradri Thermal Power Plant at Manuguru and the Yadadri Thermal Plant at Damarcherla by TS GENCO.

KCR also sought to declare the continuation of Justice (retd) L. Narasimha Reddy as the head of the commission as illegal.