The Telangana High Court has recently dismissed former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s writ petition challenging the legality of the Commission of Inquiry established to investigate alleged irregularities in the power sector during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) rule.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Anil Kumar Jukanti rejected the petition filed by the former chief minister.
KCR, in his plea, sought to declare the Government Order issued by the Telangana government constituting the Commission of Inquiry to conduct a judicial examination of the correctness and propriety of decisions made by the previous government regarding the procurement of power from Chhattisgarh by Telangana power distribution companies, and the construction of the Bhadradri Thermal Power Plant at Manuguru and Yadadri Thermal Plant at Damarcherla by TS GENCO as illegal.
Challenges to Commission’s Legitimacy
The former chief minister also challenged the continuation of Justice (retd) L Narasimha Reddy as the head of the commission, requesting that it be declared illegal. He further contested the issuance of a letter directing him to appear before the commission and produce evidence against witnesses, calling it arbitrary.
In response to the letter instructing him to appear before the commission and comments made by Justice Narasimha Reddy during a media interaction on June 15, Chandrasekhar Rao alleged that the panel chairman’s functioning was unfair. In a 12-page open letter, Rao urged Justice L Narasimha Reddy to resign from his post, detailing the measures taken by his administration to address the alleged power crisis in Telangana before June 2014, when his government took office with the formation of the new state.
KCR’s Defense and Allegations
Chandrasekhar Rao claimed that his government successfully provided 24×7 power to all sectors in the state and alleged that the current Congress regime had ordered the commission of inquiry with a clear political motive to discredit the previous government.
