The Telangana high court has ordered the state government to refrain from taking coercive action against former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and others held responsible by the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Commission for alleged irregularities in the construction of the Kaleswaram lift irrigation project.
The division bench stayed the operational use of the report, saying it has no value and is fit to be thrown into the dustbin.
The petitioners challenged the validity of the judicial commission, appointed in March 2024 by the current Congress regime, but the state government argued that due process was followed in the Commission's appointment.
The bench observed that the Commission's constitution was neither arbitrary, illegal nor beyond the power of the Constitution, but found fault with the state government's move to place the panel's findings in the public domain before legislative scrutiny in the assembly.
The verdict has been described as a major relief by KCR's counsel, stating that the report has effectively lost its enforceability.
The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, said to be the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, was started by the then-BRS regime in May 2016.
