HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, served a notice on Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar in his individual capacity and other officials in connection with the issue of a GO sanctioning Rs 58 crore for fighting contempt of court cases. The High Court, while ordering the notices, issued interim orders to the government not to release the funds towards expenses for the contempt of court cases.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy expressed surprise over the release of public money towards contempt of court cases and asked the government to explain the guidelines for spending public money. The bench also wanted to know how treasury rules allow the release of funds for such purpose. The other officials to whom the court ordered notices were: Secretaries of Revenue and Finance, Chief Commissioner - Land Administration and the Director of Treasuries. The court adjourned the case to October 27.
After HC rap, Congress wants government to oust Somesh as Chief Secretary
The Congress has demanded that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao immediately oust Somesh Kumar as Chief Secretary, in view of the High Court’s judgment on Wednesday, which found fault with GO 208 (dated June 7, 2021). Welcoming the judgement, senior Congress leader and AICC spokesperson Dasoju Sravan Kumar said the High Court had censured the Telangana government’s “spend-thrift attitude”.
“The High Court judgment on the GO 208 is a slap in the face of the government as well as the bureaucrats toeing the lines of TRS regime,” he said. He flayed the State government for issuing the GO allowing the CS to spend `58.95 crore to exclusively fight contempt cases filed predominantly against him.