The Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to refrain from taking coercive action against former chief minister and Bharat Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao and others who were held responsible by Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose’s panel for alleged irregularities and loopholes in the construction of the lift irrigation project at Kaleswaram, people familiar with the matter said.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin, who heard arguments on separate petitions filed by KCR, his nephew and former irrigation minister T Harish Rao, senior IAS officer Smitha Sabharwal and retired IAS officer SK Joshi, also stayed the practical use of the report for further proceedings.
Senior lawyer Gandra Mohan Rao, who worked as an advisor to KCR, said: “The Judicial Committee report is of no value. It should be thrown in the dustbin.”
The petitioners have challenged the validity of the Judicial Committee appointed by the current Congress regime in March 2024. However, the state government, represented by the Solicitor General, He argued that due process was followed in appointing the committee, adding that it was constituted in the public interest.
The bench observed that the constitution of the commission was not arbitrary, illegal or beyond the authority of the Constitution.
“But the findings of the commission are prejudicial to the conduct and reputation of the petitioners and have been made in violation of the principles of natural justice and statutory safeguards provided under Section 8B of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952,” the court said.
It also found fault with the state government’s move to place the findings of the committee in the public domain for legislative scrutiny in the Assembly.
Mohan Rao described the ruling as a “huge relief”, noting that the report had effectively lost its enforceability.
The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation System (KLIS), said to be the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, was started by the then BRS in May 2016. Its key component was inaugurated by then Chief Minister KCR in 2019.
In March 2024, the Congress government set up the committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge B C Ghose, to investigate alleged irregularities in the planning, design, construction, quality control, operation and maintenance of the Medigada, Annaram and Sundela barrages in the Kaleshwaram project.
The committee submitted its report to the Telangana government on July 31, 2025, holding KCR d accountable for the irregularities in planning, implementation, completion, operation and maintenance, along with Harish Rao, the then Chief Secretary SK Joshi and then Secretary to Chief Minister Smitha Sabharwal.
“The judgment has clearly exposed the political machinations of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy,” Harish Rao added on Wednesday. He urged the Congress government to end retaliatory policies and accelerate reforms of the Medigada bombing.
The former minister added that the court found fault in the investigation process, citing violations of natural justice and fundamental rights. He stated that the Supreme Court invalidated the negative observations contained in the committee’s report and prohibited any action based on its findings.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao also welcomed the Supreme Court’s stay of consideration of the Goss Committee report, terming it a severe slap in the face of the Congress government.
He said, “From the beginning, we said that the report was politically motivated. The ruling confirms that constitutional institutions cannot be misused to achieve narrow political gains.”
State Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said all investigations into the project, including earlier ones by the National Dam Safety Authority, the Expert Committee and the Vigilance Committee, had pointed to structural defects in three barrages – Medigada, Annaram and Sundila.
“The Supreme Court did not give any clean chit to KCR and others. In fact, the Supreme Court upheld the constitution and legality of the Goss Commission,” he said, adding that the state cabinet would deliberate on the court’s ruling in its meeting on Thursday.
