HYDERABAD: In a setback to former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former minister T Harish Rao, Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday ruled that the revision petition filed by the late social activist Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy, accusing them of large-scale misappropriation of government funds during the construction of the Medigadda barrage, was maintainable.
The revision petition was filed by Murthy with the principal sessions judge, Jayashankar Bhupalpally district before he was brutally murdered.
Before filing the revision petition, Murthy had in October 2023 filed a private complaint with the police against KCR, Harish Rao, the then Irrigation Secretary Rajat Kumar, the then secretary in the CMO Smitha Sabharwal, engineers-in-chief Sridhar and Krishna Reddy, along with Megha Constructions and L&T, alleging rampant corruption in the construction of the Medigadda barrage.
When the police refused to entertain his complaint, the late social activist filed a complaint with the junior civil judge.
HC to sessions judge: Decide plaint against KCR on merit
Following the dismissal of his complaint by the junior judge, Murthy filed a revision petition before the principal sessions judge, who took up the case and issued summonses to the accused.
KCR and Harish Rao filed a criminal petition seeking to quash the notices.
On Tuesday, the Telangana High Court suspended these notices while directing the principal sessions judge, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, to decide the criminal revision petition strictly in accordance with the law. However, Justice Lakshman set aside the observations made in paragraph 13 of the impugned order dated 10 July, 2024, and directed the Registry to return the original file to the trial court.