Justice Reddy Stepping Down from Telangana Power Probe Commission

Retired judge Justice L N Reddy has indicated he will not continue as Commissioner investigating alleged power procurement irregularities during former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's tenure. The Supreme Court was told that an alternate appointment notification would be issued by the Telangana government.

Retired judge Justice L N Reddy has indicated he does not wish to continue acting as Commissioner to investigate alleged power procurement irregularities during former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's tenure from 2014 to 2023, the Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the former judge, notified the Supreme Court of Justice Reddy's decision. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by Rao challenging the Telangana High Court's decision to uphold the Congress-led Telangana Government's formation of the commission to probe these irregularities.

The case was heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, accompanied by Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The court noted the press note observations and expressed the necessity to replace the judge to ensure justice is apparent.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan clarified that Justice Reddy had not made any adverse comments against the petitioner. He added that the person alleging bias had failed to respond to notices issued by Justice Reddy.

The Telangana Government informed the Supreme Court that a new notification would be issued to appoint a substitute for Justice Reddy.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the petitioner, described the case as a political vendetta. Meanwhile, Senior Advocate AM Singhvi, for Telangana state, defended the commission's formation to oversee any potential irregularities.