The Commission of Inquiry on Kaleshwaram has issued a notice to former chief minister and BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao to appear before it on 5 June. Headed by retired Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh, the commission has also sent notices to former irrigation minister T Harish Rao and former finance minister Etela Rajender, who is currently in the BJP, to appear before it on 6 and 9 June, respectively.

They have been asked to respond within 15 days on their willingness to appear for cross-examination. The notices summoning them came just after the commission’s tenure was extended from 31 May to 31 July.

Advertisement

Although the commission was ready with its inquiry report, it decided to summon the former chief minister and his former Cabinet colleagues before submitting its final report to the state government. The inquiry commission apparently decided not to go against the principles of natural justice and instead chose to summon them for cross-examination. The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) was planned and executed during the first tenure of the BRS government when K Chandrasekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, was the chief minister, Harish Rao was in charge of the irrigation portfolio, and Etela Rajender was the finance minister.

The Congress government had set up the inquiry commission after coming to power. Just before the elections, the piers of two of the three barrages of the dam developed cracks, prompting calls for investigations. Questions were raised about the selection of sites, and key decisions about the three barrages – Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla, and payments which were allegedly all made by the former chief minister. The Medigadda barrage was originally planned at Tummidihatti. Justice Ghosh examined the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), National Dam Safety Authority, and vigilance reports. The commission also conducted cross-examinations of over 100 witnesses, including officials, retired engineers, staff of contracting agencies, and IAS officers to fix responsibilities on technical, financial, and procedural issues.

Initially, the former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had been summoned by another Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice (retired) L Narasimha Reddy to probe the power purchase agreements signed by the erstwhile BRS government and the construction of two thermal power plants. But Reddy was forced to resign from the commission after the Supreme Court expressed concerns over his informal interactions with the media over the inquiry. The KLIS is among those projects that had received retrospective environmental clearance struck down by the Supreme Court recently.