Hyderabad: In an affidavit to the Telangana High Court on Wednesday, the Congress government has held Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) responsible for irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project.
The state government urged the High Court to dismiss petitions filed by the former chief minister and BRS MLA T Harish Rao, challenging the PC Ghose commission report. The petitions are a flawed attempt to halt legal action against the BRS leaders, it stated.
The government also appealed to the High Court to vacate the interim protection to KCR and Harish Rao. It made these remarks in a counter-affidavit against the petitions filed by KCR, Harish Rao, IAS officer Smita Sbharwal, and former advisor to the Telangana government SK Joshi, challenging the Ghose commission report.
“The petitioners’ contention that the inquiry was merely a ‘political strategy lacks justifiable basis and is established by the government records,” the Telangana government said.
The Congress government further stated that the Ghose commission complied with the Commission Inquiries Act, providing an opportunity to the accused to be heard. The state also said that the petitions challenging the Ghose Commission report are baseless, adding that the petitions were filed only after the findings of the Ghose Commission report were adverse to the petitioner.
The Telangana government reiterated that the petitions filed against the commission are flawed attempts to halt legal action motivated by catastrophic failure in public infrastructure and lack of financial discipline.
Telangana High Court grants interim relief to KCR, Harish Rao
The Telangana government’s affidavit came a day after the Telangana High Court granted interim relief to the former chief minister KCR and former finance minister Harish Rao till January.
After the batch of writ petitions filed by KCR, former minister Harish Rao, former Chief Secretary Shailendra Kumar Joshi, and senior IAS officer Smita Sabharwal came up for hearing before the division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin on Wednesday, the counsel for the state government sought more time to file the counter affidavits.
While posting the matter to January 2026, the HC also extended the interim protection granted to KCR, Harish Rao, Joshi and Sabharwal.
A commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice P C Ghose, which investigated the alleged irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project during the previous BRS tenure, had earlier submitted its report to the government.
The report was tabled in the state assembly in August this year, and after a discussion, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had announced the government’s decision to hand over the investigation to CBI.
In its report, the commission held Chandrasekhar Rao accountable for alleged irregularities in the project’s construction and other aspects. The report also found fault with Harish Rao, nephew of KCR and the irrigation minister during the BRS regime.
With inputs from PTI
