‘Excess justice’ given to former minister Harish Rao in Kaleshwaram probe, Telangana govt tells high court

Hyderabad: Former minister and BRS MLA T Harish Rao received ‘excess justice', not merely natural justice, during the PC Ghose commission's probe into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, the state govt told the Telangana high court on Monday.The submission was made before the bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin.Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the state govt, argued that Harish voluntarily participated in the inquiry without any coercion or demur."There is absolutely not a whisper of procedure not being followed, no request for cross-examination, nothing at all from him," Singhvi argued, describing Harish's petition to quash the report and its allegations as ‘a retrospective afterthought by way of an ambush'.The bench will hear the state's replies to the petitions filed by KCR, senior IAS officer Smita Sabharwal, and former IAS officer SK Joshi on Tuesday.Stating that accepting Harish's logic would strip the govt of its power to investigate matters of public interest, Singhvi alleged that the former was proceeding on the false premise that fact-finding commissions are coercive or punitive."By attacking a version of the law that does not actually exist, they are fighting a ghost. Since these reports are meant for fact-finding rather than enforcing compliance, the argument collapses," Singhvi told the court.Singhvi further argued that handing over the case to the CBI demonstrated transparency and bona fides, rather than vendetta, instead of entrusting it to the state police.Stating that the inquiry was not a cat-and-mouse game, Singhvi referred to the National Dam Safety Authority and said the matter was before a central agency, which had raised serious concerns regarding execution, particularly the Medigadda barrage.He said the petitioners ignored reports and failed to obtain approvals for a project of such magnitude, on which over 80,000 crore was spent."No approvals were obtained from the Central Water Commission; high power committee recommendations were disregarded; the expert committee report was ignored; and, most importantly, there was no approval from the cabinet sub-committee. Moreover, the CAG found the project's cost to be over 1.4 lakh crore," Singhvi argued.Singhvi pointed to findings on design defects and the movement of files between the Irrigation ministry (then held by Harish) and the CMO, and between Harish and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao."The only legacy of the project is that the state is now paying around 6,500 crore per year in interest," Singhvi said, concluding his arguments and urging the court to dismiss the petition.