The Telangana High Court on Wednesday postponed its ruling till April 22 on the formation of the Justice BC Ghose Committee, which investigated alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project and submitted its report to the state government.
The apex court bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice JM Mohiuddin, heard extensive arguments on a batch of petitions filed independently by Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), former irrigation minister T Harish Rao, senior IAS officer Smita Sabharwal, and former IAS officer SK Joshi, among others in September last year.
The bench, which was supposed to issue its ruling on Wednesday, reserved the same and postponed the matter to April 22.
The Justice Ghose panel was appointed in March 2024 to look into major loopholes in the design, construction and operational aspects of the main barrages built as part of the Kaleshwaram project – Medigada, Annaram and Sundila – following the damage caused during the October 2023 floods.
The committee submitted its report to the state government on July 31, 2025, after 16 months of rigorous exercise to investigate irregularities, including lack of construction quality, design defects, maintenance lapses, and accountability in financial and administrative oversight.
The Ghose Committee found fault with KCR, Harish Rao, former Finance Minister Eatala Rajender and senior engineers in charge of the project work. After discussing the report in the state assembly, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy announced that the case would be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation for further investigation into the alleged fraud in the Kaleshwaram project works.
KCR, Harish Rao and others, who filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the Goss Committee report, alleged that the committee’s investigation violated well-established due process and principles of natural justice.
They claimed that the committee did not adequately consider their explanations before taking action against them, and claimed that the investigation was being conducted in a way that was harmful to them.
However, the Telangana government defended the committee, saying it was constituted in the larger public interest to uncover possible shortcomings and irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project.
She told the court that the committee prepared its findings based on available records and issued notices to all concerned individuals in accordance with the law. The government requested that the petitions be rejected, considering that the investigation process is legally correct.
