VIJAYAWADA: Retired Judge Justice B Siva Sankara Rao took charge as the Chairman of Judicial Preview Committee at the Secretariat on Saturday.
The State government with an intention to ensure transparency in awarding contracts, passed the AP Infrastructure (Transparency through Judicial Preview) Bill - 2019 to set up the committee, which functions under the chairmanship of a High Court sitting judge or a retired judge.
With the consent of the Acting Chief Justice of AP High Court, the government-appointed Siva Sankara Rao, who retired as a Judge of Telangana High Court, as Chairman of the Judicial Preview Committee, which will scrutinise the tenders of projects worth above Rs 100 crore.
Speaking on the occasion, Siva Sankara Rao thanked the State government for appointing him as the first Chairman of the Judicial Preview Committee, which is the first of its kind in the country and maybe the entire world.
“I assure to discharge my duties to save the public money by ensuring transparency. I will strive for completion of the projects as per schedule, ensuring transparency and adhering to the provisions of the Judicial Preview Committee Act,” he said.
He asserted that while we talk about our rights we should be conscious of our duties. Earlier in the day, he called on Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the latter’s camp office in Tadepalli.
Principal Secretary (Industries) Rajat Bhargava, Commissioner (Industries) Siddharth Jain, Advocate General S Sriram, Secretary (Law) Manohar Reddy and other officials were present.