Former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former minister T Harish Rao have separately filed writ petitions in the High Court seeking to restrain the state government from acting on the inquiry commission report led by retired Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh.
The report, submitted to the government on July 31 and subsequently placed before the state Cabinet, held K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who was both chief minister and irrigation minister at the time, responsible for shifting the project against expert advice and for the damage sustained by the barrage pillars due to water being stored to the brim.
The petitioners argued that the report was prejudicial, illegal, scurrilous, and defamatory. The PC Ghosh-led commission had been constituted by the Congress government to examine the Kaleshwaram project. Both K Chandrasekhar Rao and Harish Rao had appeared before the commission, along with then finance minister Etela Rajender, who is now in the BJP. The report also blamed officials and engineers for lapses.
The writ petitions will soon be heard by a single judge of the High Court. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has said the PC Ghosh report will be discussed in the upcoming Assembly session. The court proceedings could potentially derail the Congress government’s plans to corner the BRS and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao during the debate.