New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has dismissed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy, which alleged financial irregularities in the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS).
Court’s Ruling
A bench led by Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma found no merit in the case to interfere with a prior Telangana High Court ruling, which had dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Dr. Nagam on December 3, 2018. The Supreme Court noted that four similar cases filed by Dr. Nagam concerning the same project had either been dismissed or disposed of, with no pending appeals.
Key Observations
- The Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) found that Dr. Nagam’s allegations were unsubstantiated.
- Senior counsel Prashant Bhushan, representing Dr. Nagam, argued that the revision of rates was fraudulent, but the bench questioned whether such revisions were merely state’s commercial discretion.
- Justice Nagarathna remarked that courts cannot monitor every government action.
Opposition to the Plea
- Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General and counsel for Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), raised concerns about the maintainability of the SLP, stating that Dr. Nagam had filed multiple cases over the past decade, amounting to harassment.
- The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s discretion in declining the CBI investigation request, concluding that the petition lacked merit.
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