The Telangana High Court has directed the state government not to take any action against Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his nephew T Harish Rao based on the report submitted by Justice P C Ghose commission on the alleged irregularities in Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project.
A division bench headed by chief justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and justice G M Mohiuddin, which heard the arguments on the petitions filed by KCR and Harish Rao seeking to quash the report of the Ghose commission, directed that the government should not take any action based on the report till the case is disposed of. It posted the case for further hearing on October 7.
However, there is a confusion with regard to the high court judgement, as advocate general A Sudarshan Reddy that the state government had ordered a CBI probe into the case and action would be taken only after the investigation is completed.
“The government will not take any action based on the Ghose Commission report. The commission findings have nothing to do with the CBI inquiry, which will take up the probe based on the National Dam Safety Authority findings and the vigilance commission probe into the irregularities,” the advocate general said.
The advocate general argued that the interim pleas lacked merit and were not maintainable.
Arguing for KCR and Harish Rao, senior Supreme Court judge Aryama Sundaram sought court directions to restrain the government from initiating any punitive or legal action against them until the judicial review is complete.
The High Court, while considering the arguments from both sides, ordered the government to maintain the status quo and refrain from taking any steps against the petitioners until the next hearing.
Legal experts say the court’s interim relief gives the former BRS leaders temporary respite but does not prevent the state from completing procedural formalities to involve the CBI in the matter.
