Telangana HC Defers Verdict on KCR, Harish Pleas on Ghose Panel Report
Commission holds KCR accountable for Kaleshwaram project irregularities; judgement now set for April 22

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has deferred the pronouncement of its verdict on a batch of petitions filed against a report submitted by the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Commission on the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project to April 22.
The writ petitions against the report were filed by former chief minister and BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao, former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, former chief secretary Shailendra Kumar Joshi (retd.) and senior IAS officer Smita Sabharwal.
A two-judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin, reserved the orders on March 12 and said that the judgment would be pronounced on April 8.
Though the cases were listed before the bench for the judgment, the court postponed the verdict to April 22.
The Justice P.C. Ghose Commission was established by the Telangana government on March 14, 2024, to investigate alleged irregularities in the planning, design, and construction of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP)
The commission submitted its 665-page report to the state government on July 31, 2025, where it held former Chandrasekhar Rao responsible for serious lapses in the project's execution. The commission also highlighted rank irregularity from the conceptualisation stage, including the intentional suppression of expert committee reports that advised against the project.
The report also identified abnormal cost escalations, with project estimates rising from ₹38,500 crore to over ₹1.10 lakh crore. It also alleged that flawed planning and defective designs were primary causes for structural damage at the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages.

