Pressure Mounts for CBI Probe into Kaleshwaram

The Telangana government has decided to exert pressure for a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram project.

Acting on the advice of legal experts, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed the officials to write a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) requesting that an immediate inquiry be initiated into the project.

According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the Chief minister instructed the ministers to seek an appointment with the CBI Director, if necessary, to meet the head of the investigating agency and formally submit a memorandum for a probe.

In light of the recent High Court verdict on the Kaleshwaram project, the Chief Minister and irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy held a high-level review meeting and took stock of the situation.

During the meeting, CM Revanth Reddy and the minister consulted prominent Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Singhvi and sought his advice to formulate an action plan and proceed further in the entire Kaleshwaram episode.

Since no cases were pending in any court regarding the Kaleshwaram issue, the legal expert informed the Chief Minister that there will be no legal impediments to prevent the CBI from undertaking a probe.

The Supreme Court advocate also clarified that the High Court did not find fault with the government in constituting the Justice PC Ghosh Commission and the report submitted by the Commission. The Court also did not make any comment against the findings of the commission in the report.

The State Cabinet, at its meeting on April 23, had decided to press the CBI for an immediate, expedited investigation into Kaleshwaram project.

Uttam Kumar Reddy had said that it has been nine months since the state government wrote to the CBI to conduct an investigation.

Uttam Kumar Reddy reiterated that the High Court has not given a clean chit to former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and former minister T. Harish Rao.

He said the High Court made it clear that the P. C. Ghose Commission, constituted to probe the irregularities, was not illegal. He claimed that the High Court dismissed the main plea of KCR and Harish Rao. They had sought orders to declare the Commission illegal and quash its report.

Due to some technical issues, the High Court said that action should not be taken against KCR and Harish Rao, he explained.