Kaleshwaram Project Case: Telangana High Court Grants Relief to KCR, Harish Rao

In a relief to former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and former Minister Harish Rao, the High Court directed the Congress government not to initiate action against them in the case linked to alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme.

BRS chief KCR and Harish Rao had approached the Telangana High Court after the government announced its decision to hand over the probe into the project to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). The move came after the Revanth Reddy government tabled the PC Ghose Commission report in the Assembly on Sunday (August 31).

Hearing the matter, the Division Bench led by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh said the CBI will conduct an independent investigation into the Kaleshwaram project and must not rely on the Ghose Commission’s findings.

Responding to the petition, the Advocate General (AG) assured the court that the government has not taken, nor will take, any steps based on the report until further orders.

However, the petitioners’ counsel argued it was contradictory for the government to claim no action was taken on the report while simultaneously permitting a CBI probe. They urged the court to restrain authorities from using the Ghose report in any manner until the case is finally decided.

The AG maintained that the CBI inquiry was not ordered on the basis of the Commission’s findings and that the panel did not recommend handing the case to CBI. He emphasised the CBI probe was a policy decision of the government.

Stressing that the Ghose Commission report was only tabled in the Assembly and discussed, the AG clarified that the CBI probe is not directed at individuals like KCR or Harish Rao, but at the Kaleshwaram project itself—specifically the collapse of five piers—and aims to fix responsibility for structural failures. The Bench adjourned the case to October 7, 2025, after the Dussehra vacation.