A division bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe held that the petition was not maintainable.
File photo of KCR. (X)
In a setback to BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), the Telangana High Court on Monday, 1 July, dismissed his petition seeking cancellation of notices issued to him by Justice L Narasimha Reddy Commission probing alleged irregularities in the power sector in Telangana under the BRS dispensation.
The former chief minister also sought to scrap the Government Order (GO) under which the commission was set up.
The incumbent Congress government constituted the commission to probe the irregularities in the setting up of the Yadadri and Bhadrari Thermal Power plants and other issues.
A division bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe held that the petition was not maintainable.
The division bench, which kept its verdict in reserve after the competition of the arguments on 28 June, delivered the verdict on Monday.
The Narasimha Reddy Commission, after examining 15 witnesses, sent notice to KCR in April to submit his explanation on the issue but the BRS supremo sought time till the end of June since he was busy with the Lok Sabha elections.
Later, he took serious exception when Justice Narasimha Reddy held a media conference.
He said that the tone and tenor of the commission suggested it had already concluded that irregularities did take place even without hearing the former chief minister.
KCR had even suggested to Justice Narasimha Reddy to step down voluntarily as he had no jurisdiction to review the verdicts of the Electricity Regulatory Commissions, which he had followed while deciding on the power sector.
However, the commission sent another letter to KCR on 19 June that it wanted his explanation either in person or by anyone acting on his behalf.
The commission said if he chose to come, it would make arrangements for him to examine the other witnesses who deposed against him.
The former chief minister, instead of sending his reply to the commission, chose to move the high court challenging the validity of the order under which the commission was set up and sought orders cancelling the notices given to him.
Advocate General (AG) A Sudarshan Reddy argued that KCR’s petition was not maintainable since the inquiry commission was conducting the probe within its legal rights.
KCR’s counsel Aditya Sondhi argued that the commission was acting unilaterally, without following the principle of natural justice which the AG had disputed, saying that the state government ordered the constitution of the commission on the request of the BRS MAs in the Assembly.
When the court heard arguments on the petition on 28 June, it wanted to know what the objection to the commission was in conducting an inquiry into the irregularities in the power sector.
“The commission would anyway give its report to the government which would table it in the Assembly where the MLAs could discuss it,” the court had said.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
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