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Telangana HC bars state from action against KCR, others in Kaleshwaram case
On Monday, state home secretary Ravi Gupta wrote a letter to the Union home ministry to direct the CBI to take up the investigation into the alleged irregularities in the construction of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project
The Telangana high court on Tuesday restrained the state government from taking any action until further orders against Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former irrigation minister T Harish Rao based on the report submitted by Justice P C Ghose commission on the alleged irregularities in Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, people familiar with the matter said.
“A division bench of chief justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and justice G M Mohiuddin directed the government not to take action against the petitioners based on the report of the Ghose Commission,” senior Supreme Court lawyer Aryama Sundaram, who argued for KCR and Harish Rao, told reporters.
He said the petitioners requested that the Ghose commission report be quashed and no coercive action be taken against them based on the report. “The bench gave the directions to the government not to initiate any action against KCR and Harish Rao based on the report, which was tabled in the state assembly on August 31,” Sundaram said, adding that the case was posted to October 7 for further hearing.
State advocate general A Sudarshan Reddy said he had informed the high court bench that the state government had ordered a CBI probe into the case and action would be taken only after the investigation was 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. “The high court ordered that the government maintain status quo and refrain it from taking any steps against the petitioners until the next hearing,” he said.
He, however, said the court direction would not bar the CBI to register the case and take up the preliminary investigation.
On Monday, state home secretary Ravi Gupta wrote a letter to the Union home ministry to direct the CBI to take up the investigation into the alleged irregularities in the construction of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project.
The home secretary also issued a gazette notification reviving the general consent for the CBI to take up the investigation into the Kaleshwaram project irregularities in exercise of the powers conferred under section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (Central Act XXV of 1946).
The previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government, on August 30, 2022, withdrew the general consent for the CBI, thereby barring the agency from probing any case in Telangana.
“Now, the state government hereby accords consent to the CBI to exercise the powers and jurisdiction in Telangana for conducting investigation into the allegations of irregularities, embezzlement of public funds, and corrupt practices etc. in the matter of construction of Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram irrigation project against all the accused persons including public servants and private persons, companies etc.,” Ravi Gupta said in the order.
