Telangana HC adjourns hearing on KCR’s plea seeking stay on Narasimha Reddy Commission proceedings

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has adjourned to Friday the hearing on a petition filed by former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao seeking a stay on all further proceedings of the Justice L. Narasimha Reddy Commission constituted by the Congress government to inquire into the power purchase agreements made by the previous BRS government and the construction of two thermal power plants.

A division bench comprising Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti on Thursday took up the hearing on the petition filed by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief.

Aditya Sondhi, the counsel for KCR, as the former Chief Minister is popularly known, argued that the Commission was acting contrary to the law, claiming that Justice Narasimha Reddy acted against Supreme Court orders by unilaterally conducting a press conference to announce details of the inquiry.

The Commission had issued notice to KCR seeking details relating to the power purchase agreements and the construction of power plants. Since he was busy campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, he had sought more time to respond.

Even before he could submit his reply, Justice Narasimha Reddy held a press conference to say that there were irregularities in the power purchase agreements and the construction of power plants, Sondhi said.

The former Chief Minister wrote to Justice Narasimha Reddy, taking exception to his action of holding a press conference to speak about the alleged irregularities but the Commission again served him a notice, the court was told.

KCR’s counsel also brought to the court’s notice that when the Telangana state was formed, there was a severe power shortage. The power purchase agreements were made after a decision by the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC), Sondhi said, adding that the ERC is also a judicial body and an appeal can be filed before it to challenge its decisions.

The Commission also said that there were technical loopholes in the construction of the Bhadradri Thermal Power Plant at Manuguru and the Yadadri Thermal Power Plant at Damaracherla by TS GENCO.

On this, the BRS chief’s counsel submitted that several power plants in the country were constructed using the same technology. He also mentioned that the National Green Tribunal gave its nod for the construction of the power plants.

KCR’s counsel argued that the present government issued an order constituting the Commission despite knowing that it can’t be constituted to review the decisions of the ERC.

The petitioner sought direction to set aside the Government Order, formation of the Judicial Commission, and the notice issued by it.

Sondhi also contended that the Commission was not acting impartially and that it was constituted due to political reasons.

After hearing the arguments of KCR’s counsel, the high court adjourned the hearing to Friday when the Advocate General and the electricity department’s counsel will present their arguments.