Hyderabad, April 27 (IANS). The Telangana government has decided to press for a CBI inquiry into alleged irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram project.
Acting on the advice of legal experts, state Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed officials to write a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), requesting it to initiate an immediate investigation into the project.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the Chief Minister directed ministers to, if necessary, seek an appointment with the CBI Director to meet the head of the investigating agency and formally submit a memorandum on the investigation.
In view of the recent High Court verdict on the Kaleshwaram Project, Chief Minister and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy held a high-level review meeting and took stock of the situation.
During the meeting, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and the minister consulted renowned Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and sought his opinion to move forward in the entire Kaleshwaram case and formulate an action plan.
Since no case related to the Kaleshwaram issue was pending in any court, the legal expert informed the Chief Minister that there would be no legal hurdles preventing the CBI from carrying out the investigation.
The Supreme Court lawyer also clarified that the High Court did not find any fault on the part of the government in the formation of the Justice PC Ghosh Commission and the report submitted by the Commission. The court also did not comment against the commission’s findings in the report.
The state cabinet, in its meeting held on April 23, had decided to push for the CBI to investigate the Kaleshwaram project immediately and swiftly. Uttam Kumar Reddy had said that nine months have passed since the state government wrote a letter to the CBI to investigate.
Uttam Kumar Reddy again reiterated that the High Court has not given clean chit to former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and former Minister T Harish Rao. He said that the High Court has made it clear that the PC Ghosh Commission constituted to investigate the irregularities was not illegal. He claimed that the High Court rejected the main petition of KCR and Harish Rao. He had sought orders to declare the commission illegal and cancel its report.
He told that due to some technical problems, the High Court said that no action should be taken against KCR and Harish Rao.
–IANS
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