The case will be heard by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Rao’s petition disputes the Telangana government’s order establishing the Commission of Inquiry to examine decisions regarding power procurement from Chhattisgarh by Telangana power distribution companies and the construction of the Bhadradri and Yadadri Thermal Power Plants by TSGENCO.
NEW DELHI: Today (15th July): The Supreme Court will hear a plea from BRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao on July 15, challenging a Telangana High Court order. Rao’s plea seeks to declare the constitution of a commission to investigate alleged power sector irregularities during his tenure as chief minister as “illegal.”
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The case will be reviewed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Rao’s petition disputes the Telangana government’s order establishing the Commission of Inquiry to examine decisions regarding power procurement from Chhattisgarh by Telangana power distribution companies and the construction of the Bhadradri and Yadadri Thermal Power Plants by TSGENCO.
Rao, known as KCR, leads the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which lost the 2023 Telangana assembly election to the Congress. His plea against the July 1 high court order alleges bias and seeks to remove Justice (retd) L Narasimha Reddy as head of the commission, claiming his appointment is “illegal.”
The high court’s 22-page order stated Rao failed to provide evidence that Justice Reddy had pre–judged the issues. The court emphasized that the commission must base its findings on the material presented and noted that Justice Reddy’s qualifications include holding the constitutional office of chief justice.
The court ruled that allegations of bias must be substantiated with evidence, which Rao had not provided. Consequently, the high court determined the proceedings before Justice Reddy were not compromised by bias.
Rao also criticized a letter directing him to appear before the commission to provide evidence against witnesses. He alleged that Justice Reddy’s conduct was not impartial and, in a 12-page open letter dated June 15, called for Reddy to step down as the commission’s chairman.
In the letter, Rao defended his administration’s measures to address the power sector crisis in _Telangana before June 2014 and accused the current Congress regime of establishing the commission with political motives to discredit his previous government.
The commission must record its findings based on the material presented before it, the court stated.
“The allegation of bias against respondent No. 3 is based solely on a statement reportedly made during a press conference, with no additional evidence provided to demonstrate that the proceedings before respondent No. 3 are compromised due to personal bias,”
the court stated.
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“The allegation of bias must be proven, not merely inferred. Given the facts and circumstances of the case, we conclude that the petitioner has failed to substantiate the claim of bias against respondent No. 3. Consequently, the proceedings before respondent No. 3 are not compromised due to bias,”
the court stated.
Rao asserted that his government had successfully provided 24×7 power to all sectors in the state and accused the current Congress regime of establishing the commission of inquiry “with a clear political motive to discredit the previous government.”
