The Telangana High Court on Friday extended the protection order till March 2 to former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, former minister T Harish Rao, former chief secretary SK Joshi and IAS officer Smitha Sabharwal as their lawyers concluded arguments in separate writ petitions they filed to stay the PC Ghose commission report on the Kaleshwaram project.
A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, which heard pleas filed by the four of them separately, passed an order on 2 September 2025 restraining the state government from taking any adverse action against them based on the findings of the Ghose Commission report that incriminated them. Presenting his submissions, counsel for Mr. Chandrashekhar Rao Dama Sheshadri Naidu said the Commission has the powers of a civil court. Naturally, every person who appeared before a civil court had an opportunity to answer the charges brought against him.
The commission did not give the former CM an opportunity to present his arguments. After declaring that the petitioners were at fault in the implementation of the Kaleshwarwam Lift Irrigation Scheme, the Commission should have given the petitioners an opportunity to explain its stand, the counsel said.
The commission had examined nearly 190 witnesses as part of the inquiry but did not give Mr. Chandrashekhar Rao an opportunity to cross-examine them, argued the senior counsel. Before presenting the commission’s report in the assembly, an abridged version of the report in the form of a presentation was shared with the media, he said.
Published – 27 Feb 2026 20:09 IST
