The court’s decision came in response to interlocutory petitions filed by KCR and Harish Rao, seeking protection from any government action based on the Ghose Commission report until their earlier petitions—requesting the suspension of the report — are resolved.
Published Sep 02, 2025 | 2:22 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 02, 2025 | 2:22 PM
The court prohibited coercive action against KCR and Harish Rao until the next hearing on 7 October.
Synopsis: The high court instructed that no investigative action should be based on the Justice PC Ghose Commission report, and the interim relief would hold good until the next hearing on 7 October, when it will consider the petitions filed by KCR and Harish Rao to suspend the commission’s report entirely.
The Telangana High Court on Tuesday, 2 September, granted interim relief to former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and former Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao, both leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) case.
The court prohibited coercive action against them based on the findings of the Justice PC Ghose Commission report, which investigated the alleged irregularities in constructing the KLIP. This interim order will in force until the court’s next hearing, scheduled for 7 October.
The court’s decision came in response to interlocutory petitions filed by KCR and Harish Rao, seeking protection from any government action based on the Ghose Commission report until their earlier petitions—requesting the suspension of the report — are resolved.
The BRS leaders argued that initiating action based on the report would be premature and prejudicial while their legal challenges remain pending.
The Justice PC Ghose Commission was constituted to probe alleged irregularities in the KLIP, a flagship irrigation initiative of the previous BRS government, aimed at providing water to drought-prone regions of Telangana.
The commission’s report, which focused on the financial and procedural discrepancies in the project, has been a point of contention, with the current dispensation referring the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a larger probe.
During the hearing in the high court on Tuesday, the Advocate General, representing the Telangana government, argued that the petitions filed by KCR and Harish Rao were not maintainable.
He informed the court that the state government had already discussed the Ghose Commission report in the Telangana Legislative Assembly before referring the matter to the CBI. However, he clarified that the CBI’s investigation was independent of the commission’s findings and would proceed based on its own merits.
The Advocate General further assured the court that no action had been taken against the petitioners, and the CBI would initiate any future action only after its investigation. He emphasised that the state government was acting within legal bounds and that the CBI probe was not directly tied to the Ghose Commission report.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the high court instructed that no investigative action should be taken based on the Justice PC Ghose Commission report. The interim relief would hold good until the next hearing on 7 October, when it will consider the petitions filed by KCR and Harish Rao to suspend the commission’s report entirely.
The KLIP, one of India’s most expensive irrigation projects, has been mired in controversy over alleged cost overruns, design flaws, and financial mismanagement. The project, which involves lifting water from the Godavari River to irrigate vast agricultural lands, was a cornerstone of the BRS government’s infrastructure agenda.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
