SC To Hear KCR’s Plea Against Panel On Power Sector Irregularities On July 15

The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea from BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao on July 15, challenging a Telangana High Court order. Rao’s plea seeks to declare as “illegal” the constitution of a commission to investigate alleged power sector irregularities during his tenure as chief minister.

The case will be reviewed by a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Rao’s petition disputes the Telangana government’s order that established the Commission of Inquiry to examine the decisions made by his government regarding power procurement from Chhattisgarh by Telangana power distribution companies, as well as the construction of the Bhadradri Thermal Power Plant at Manuguru and the Yadadri Thermal Plant at Damarcherla by TSGENCO (Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited).

Case Insights

Rao, popularly known as KCR, leads the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which lost the 2023 Telangana assembly election to the Congress. In his plea against the July 1 high court order, Rao alleges bias and seeks to have Justice (retd) L Narasimha Reddy removed as the head of the commission, claiming his appointment is “illegal”.

The high court’s 22-page order stated that Rao failed to provide evidence indicating that Justice Reddy had pre-judged the issues before him. The court emphasized that the commission must base its findings on the material presented and noted that Justice Reddy had previously held the constitutional office of chief justice, underscoring his qualifications.

The court ruled that allegations of bias must be substantiated with evidence, which Rao had not provided. Consequently, the high court determined that the proceedings before Justice Reddy were not compromised by bias.

Rao also criticized the issuance of a letter directing him to appear before the commission to provide evidence against witnesses. He alleged that Justice Reddy’s conduct had not been impartial and, in a 12-page open letter dated June 15, called for Reddy to step down from his position as the commission’s chairman.

In the letter, Rao defended his administration’s measures to address the power sector crisis in Telangana prior to June 2014 and accused the current Congress regime of establishing the commission with political motives to discredit his previous government.

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