High Court to pronounce verdict on April 8 over Ghose Commission report on Kaleshwaram

The Telangana High Court will pronounce its verdict on April 8 in the batch of writ petitions filed separately by former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and three others seeking a direction to set aside and quash the report of Justice P.C. Ghose Commission which inquired into alleged irregularities in the execution of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. 

A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin heard contentions over the writ petitions filed by KCR, former Minister T. Harish Rao, retired IAS officer and former Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi and serving IAS officer Smitha Sabharwal. The bench extended till April 8 the order not to initiate any coercive action against all four petitioners based on the findings of the Ghose Commission report. 

While Advocate General A. Sudershan Reddy and senior counsel S. Niranjan Reddy appeared for the State government and the Ghose Commission respectively, Supreme Court senior counsel Dama Sheshadri Naidu argued for KCR. The arguments and counter arguments, replies to the counter affidavits and subsequent responses from both the parties continued for the past nearly nine months. As the arguments concluded on Thursday, the bench headed by the CJ reserved orders, declaring that judgement would be delivered on April 8. 

The Kaleshwawram Lift Irrigation Scheme, said to be the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, was started by the BRS government in May of 2016, two years after it came to power in Telangana State created in 2014. Its main component was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in 2019. In March of 2024, within a few months of coming to power having dethroned BRS government which won for two consecutive terms, the Congress government headed by A. Revanth Reddy constituted an Inquiry Commission with former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaka Chanda Ghose to inquire into alleged irregularities in execution of Kaleshwaram project. 

The Commission presented its report in September of 2025. The report indicted former KCR, BRS MLA T. Harish Rao who was Irrigation Minister while constructing Kalehswaram project, former CS S.K. Joshi and IAS officer Smitha Sabharwal who served as KCR’s secretary during his stint as Chief Minister. All the four separately filed writ petition to declare the GO Ms. No. 6 of Irrigation department constituting the Inquiry Commission and quash the Commission’s report. 

The counsels for the four petitioners raised different points rebutting the findings the Commission and contended that their clients were not served the mandatory notices under Section 8B and 8C of the Enquiry of Commissions Act. They were asked to appear before the Commission and the petitioners appeared before the Commission, the counsels argued. 

They also contended that no documents connected to the Commission’s findings were passed on to them. They were also not given opportunity to cross-examine the 119 witnesses whose statements were recorded by the Commission. The AG argued that the Commission found that KCR and his government went ahead with the execution of the project despite serious objections raised by different Central government agencies.