Hyderabad, Feb 21 (IANS) The Telangana High Court on Friday took up for hearing a case related to the damages caused to the Medigadda barrage, a part of Kaleshwaram Project, two days after the brutal murder of Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy, who had filed a complaint against former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and former minister T. Harish Rao.
In August last year, the Principal Sessions Court, Bhupalpally, issued notices to BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), former minister Harish Rao, and six others.
The court had issued notices to KCR, Harish Rao, the then Special Chief Secretary, Irrigation, and retired IAS officer Rajat Kumar, Principal Secretary Smitha Sabharwal, Chief Engineers B. Hariram and N. Sridhar and two representatives of two contracting agencies.
Challenging the notices, KCR and Harish Rao filed a petition in the High Court, seeking orders to set aside the lower court’s ruling.
In December last year, the High Court suspended the notices issued to KCR and Harish Rao.
Their counsel argued that the sessions court had no jurisdiction to hear the case, submitting that various high courts and the Supreme Court had passed orders in this regard.
The lower court had issued notices while hearing a petition of Rajalingamurthy, a resident of Bhupalpally, who contended that Chandrasekhar Rao, Harish Rao, and others acted with undue haste in going ahead with the project and without proper testing to misappropriate huge public funds. Rajalingamurthy cited the sinking of the piers of Medigadda in October 2023, and the visit of officials of the National Dam Safety Authority, several politicians and others to the barrage and contended that the respondent misappropriated public money.
The petitioner had argued that this constitutes offences under Sections 120-B, 420, 386, 406 and 409 of the Indian Penal Code.
The sessions court took up the hearing after a lower court refused to hear the case as only special judges are empowered to deal with cases that come under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the IPC. Following this, Rajalingamurthy filed the petition in the sessions court, seeking revision of the order of the First Class Principal Judicial Magistrate of Bhupalpally.
Rajalingamurthy was hacked to death by unidentified persons in Bhupalapally town of Jayashankar Bhupalapally district on Wednesday night. His family members and leaders of the ruling Congress blamed BRS leaders for the murder.
During the hearing on Friday, counsel of KCR and Harish Rao informed the High Court about the death of Rajalingamurthy. The counsel argued that since the complainant in the case has died, the court can’t hear the case. However, the public prosecutor contended that the hearing in the case should continue. He sought time to make his arguments.
The High Court adjourned the hearing to February 24.
–IANS
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