The Telangana High Court, in a recent decision, rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition that called for a thorough investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the suspected misuse of funds within the Narayanpet-Kodangal Lift Irrigation Scheme.
The High Court Registry initially raised questions about the petition, which was filed by Bakka Judson, a former member of the All India Congress Committee and a prominent social activist. Judson’s plea alleged that the irrigation project, originally launched by the previous Congress-led government, was rife with financial impropriety. Specifically, the petitioner claimed a ‘quid pro quo’ arrangement involving Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, his cabinet colleague Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, and two private construction firms, Megha Engineering and Raghava Constructions.
During the preliminary scrutiny of the case, the bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin, pressed the petitioner’s counsel regarding Judson’s standing to file the PIL. The court inquired whether the petitioner had been expelled from the All India Congress Committee, a party he once belonged to. The bench further remarked that, given his past political associations, the possibility of ulterior motives behind filing the public interest litigation could not be entirely discounted.
“This is not the appropriate forum to address such issues,” the bench stated emphatically. The petitioner had argued that the project’s estimated cost had suspiciously escalated from an initial ₹1,450.51 crore to ₹2,945.5 crore through a government order, only to be further revised to a staggering ₹4,350 crore. This drastic increase, Judson contended, was intentionally done to unduly benefit the two aforementioned private companies.
However, the court ultimately concluded that the petitioner failed to provide convincing evidence to substantiate the alleged ‘quid pro quo’ understanding between the government and the two construction companies, leading to the dismissal of the petition.