Hyderabad: The findings of the PC Ghose commission that probed alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project “castigated, vilified and destroyed the reputation and political career” of a person of K Chandrasekhar Rao’s magnitude who was “at the helm of the affairs close to a decade”, the former chief minister’s counsel, Dama Seshadri Naidu, told the Telangana High Court on Friday. He was arguing before the bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin during the hearing of petitions filed by KCR and others to quash the commission’s inquiry report. Naidu alleged that the commission failed to follow procedural safeguards, resulting in a devastating and chilling effect on KCR’s reputation.Moreover, it was a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution which constituted a person’s right to reputation, more so a politician whose only qualification was being a politician and nothing beyond, Naidu argued.He alleged that while the Telangana govt vehemently denied making the commission’s report public or uploading it on public domains, he had proved to the court that it was not just made public but also widely circulated.Further, Naidu equated the commission’s claims of having examined voluminous records and submitted its report in a limited time to “Justice hurried is justice buried”.Citing past apex court and high court rulings which emphasised that fundamental right can never be waived and the conduct cannot be an obstruction, Naidu challenged the govt’s claim that KCR participated in the inquiry voluntarily and did not file any document to support his claim despite being given an opportunity to do so.He also challenged the state’s claim that the petition became “infructuous” since the investigation was handed over to CBI and nothing survived. Further, referring to the notice the commission issued to KCR, Naidu argued that even in trial courts, if somebody is not communicated the findings against him/her — that are adverse — the proceedings would not stand.“But here it’s a calculated move. Though they pretty well say nothing comes out of it because it does not bind, does not persuade, it’s a dead letter, but had all the circus played out so that somebody could be condemned unheard, exposed without justification,” Naidu added and urged the court not to allow such “sinister play without a fair play”.
