There was a complaint, then an enquiry, followed by swift action—everything concluded within just 48 hours. The sudden and unceremonious dismissal of Telangana Medical and Health Minister Eatala Rajender from the state Cabinet followed. While membership of the ministry is entirely at the discretion of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Rajender claims the principle of natural justice was completely ignored while sacking him.
Neither the government nor KCR, who acted on a complaint filed by a few farmers, sought an explanation from the six-time MLA after the officials hurriedly concluded in their report that he had encroached upon 66 acres of assigned land in Medak district and listed out three Acts under which action could be initiated against him, besides invoking the Revenue Recovery Act for the collection of the amount that the state exchequer had lost in the process.
Rajender—who was among the people on the frontlines of the Telangana movement—contends that the charges were only a ruse to get rid of him from the Cabinet but would not say what the actual reason is. He believes there are other ministers and MLAs who are suffering silently in the suffocating confines of the TRS, implying that the party is not what it used to be, and has said that he would not hesitate to go to any extent to safeguard his self-respect.
After his family approached the Telangana HC, the court on Tuesday asked the state government not to take into cognisance the collector’s report. The HC said that by not giving an opportunity to Jamuna Hatcheries, a company owned by Rajender’s family, to be heard, the officials had ignored the principle of natural justice and wanted to know the reason for the hurry.No one questions the prerogative of the chief minister, but when serious charges of encroachment of assigned lands emerge, it is only fair that the accused is given an opportunity to be heard.