Telangana HC gives final chance to complainant to file counters

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday gave a final opportunity to the complainant, who had filed a private complaint before the Bhupalpally district court seeking action against former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, former minister Harish Rao, and others over the sunken piers of the Medigadda barrage, to file counters in the criminal petition pending before it.

The criminal petition was filed jointly by Chandrashekar Rao and Harish Rao, seeking to quash the summons and notices issued by the principal sessions judge, Jayashankar Bhupalpally District Court, in the petition filed by the complainant, Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy, a resident of Bhupalpally.

Rajalingamurthy contended that Chandrashekar Rao, Harish Rao, and others were responsible for the breakdown and sinking of the barrage, as they had decided to construct the barrage at the current site on their own, disregarding expert recommendations against constructing the barrage at that site.

In his complaint, Rajalingamurthy requested the Bhupalpally court to register a case against all the accused, including Chandrashekar Rao, Harish Rao, and others, on charges of breach of trust by a public servant and misappropriation of public funds.

Based on his complaint, the Bhupalpally court issued notices to the BRS leaders in July 2024. Challenging these notices, they approached the High Court in December 2024.

Acting on their petition, the High Court stayed the memo and notices and directed the Bhupalpally police and Rajalingamurthy to file counters. While the police filed a counter stating that they had no role in the issue, Rajalingamurthy, however, failed to do so, prompting the High Court to grant a final opportunity.