KCR files writ petition in Telangana High Court seeking orders to scrap Justice Narasimha Reddy Commission

The BRS supremo insisted that the power purchase agreements signed when he was the chief minister were in accordance with the rules in force.

He listed Justice Narasimha Reddy and officials of the Energy Department of the state government as respondents.

Also Read: Congress urges Telangana government to revoke 11 acres of land allotted to BRS

Letter to the commission

The former chief minister had on 15 June shot off a 12-page letter to Justice Narasimha Reddy, taking serious exception to the way he was conducting the inquiry.

He even suggested Justice Reddy step down at his own accord from his present position.

KCR took exception to him bringing up his name at a news conference, regardless of the fact that he was responsible for the creation of Telangana state and served as its chief minister for 10 years.

He argued that the order constituting the inquiry commission to probe the power purchase agreements and the setting up of new thermal power stations was against the law and that Justice Reddy did not have the authority to conduct the inquiry.

He said instituting an inquiry and conducting its proceedings on the verdicts of the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) was illegal.

Justice Reddy, without bringing to the notice of the government that the constitution of the inquiry commission was itself illegal, had, on the other hand, accepted the responsibility to do the state government’s bidding, he added.

He said that Narasimha Reddy spoke without knowing the jurisdiction of the ERCs, which are quasi-judicial bodies.

Also Read: BRS suffers setback, another MLA joins ruling Congress in Telangana

The inquiry

The state government on 14 March ordered the constitution of a one-man Judicial Commission headed by Justice Narasimha Reddy to probe into the alleged irregularities in the power sector, under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952.

The commission has been conducting its inquiry and recorded the statements of about 25 officials, serving and retired.

The commission also asked KCR to send his explanation before 15 June and it was against this backdrop that KCR sent the letter to Justice Reddy.

Later, when the media inquired about the contents of KCR’s missive, Justice Reddy said that he would have to go through it thoroughly and that he could not make any comments off-hand.

Earlier in the day, the high court stayed a case against KCR, registered by police in 2011, for rioting, unlawful assembly, obstruction of a public servant from discharging his duty, and criminal intimidation during a protest.

The court stayed the case on a quash petition Chandrashekhar Rao filed on Monday. The court held that the grounds under which the sections were invoked under the Indian Pena Code (IPC) and Indian Railway Act were not applicable since the petitioner was not present at the protest.

(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)

(South First is now on WhatsApp and Telegram)