The Telangana High Court on Friday refused to pass any interim orders on the petitions filed by former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and former irrigation minister T Hareesh Rao seeking to quash the P C Ghose Commission of Inquiry report, and not to act upon the report findings. The court’s decision comes after the state government clarified that no action would be taken against the petitioners before discussing the commission’s findings on the floor of the Assembly.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin, however, noted that the petitioners are prejudiced due to the alleged publication of contents of the report during a press conference and its alleged availability on the official website of the State Government.
“When the government decided to accept the report and to place it before the Assembly for discussion, the report or its summary should not have been uploaded on its official website before the Assembly undertakes a discussion on the report,” the court stated in the order. It added that in case the report has been uploaded on any official website of the government, it should be taken down.
Meanwhile, the Advocate General stated that the report was not available on the state’s official website.
The court on Thursday had asked the state to clarify whether the state government would place an action taken report before the Assembly when it meets to discuss the findings of the PC Ghose Commission report.
The court was hearing the plea alleging that the inquiry commission was unconstitutional and illegal, and its report was invalid, and that the government’s actions were unfair. During the hearing, the petitioners contended that the findings of the commission were prejudicial, scurrilous, defamatory, and scathing against the petitioners.
On Friday, the Bench recorded the State’s submission that the judicial commission’s report on alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Project will be first placed for debate before the Assembly, before any action may be taken on its findings.
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The court noted that the apprehensions of the petitioners were that the commission made the findings regarding their conduct and reputation without following the prescription of law under 8B and 8C of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, and violated the principles of natural justice.
The Advocate General has made a categorical submission that further action on the report would be taken only after discussion in the Legislative Assembly.
“It therefore appears that the apprehension of the petitioners that action would be taken on the basis of the findings of the report allegedly touching upon the conduct and reputation of the petitioner is misplaced… At this stage, when the State Government has come out with a categorical assertion that no action is going to be taken on the basis of the findings in the report, no further interim directions are required to be passed in that regard,” the court noted.
The state government was directed to file a detailed counter-affidavit in response to the plea in four weeks, and petitioners were given one week thereafter to file their reply, if any. The matter was adjourned for five weeks.
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The Telangana Government appointed former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retd) Pinaki Chandra Ghose to head the judicial commission to investigate the alleged irregularities in the planning, design, and construction of Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages, which formed integral components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), a flagship project of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) dispensation.
