Telangana Govt Tells High Court: Action on Kaleshwaram Report Only After Assembly Debate

In a major rollback, the Telangana government has told the High Court it does not intend to take any action as per findings of the Justice P.C. Ghose Commission said report until the same is read out and discussed in the Legislative Assembly. This was guaranteed when court proceedings went after writ petitions submitted by the former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and the former Irrigation Minister, T. Harish Rao, who have opposed the report as biased and constitutionally unsound.

Asked by Solicitor General A. Sudarshan Reddy whether the government would take action based on the findings of the commission prior to its deliberation in the Assembly, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin said that the government needed to act committedly in the matter. The government in response issued a categorical commitment to desist with the court going on to declare that no interim measures were warranted at this stage.

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The court was worried about the leakage of the report details to an early announcement by parties in the media, disseminations by political heads and possibly through official means. This consequently ordered the government to delete any copies of the reported that may have been posted in official websites or otherwise.

Emphasizing on the legal procedure that lay ahead, the bench gave the government a four-week scope to put in a comprehensive counter-affidavit, and the petitioners a week in its reply. The case would have additional hearings in about five weeks.

The Justice Ghose Commission- which was entrusted with the mandate to investigate cases of procedural and financial irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project- had found both Rao and Harish Rao culpable in its July 31 report. The petitioners advance that the commission exceeded its judicial authority, frustrated natural justice as it denied cross-examination and was not liable to provide notices as per provisions in Section 8B and Section 8C and the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.

The High Court did not think it was the right decision to interfere with the legislative aspect because of the assurance given by the government itself which had legal stand. The hearing will now be maintained following the hearing of the debate in the Assembly and may influence follow-on administrative or judicial procedures.