Telangana high court seeks clarity on how former chief secretary obtained copy of Ghose panel report

Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Wednesday questioned former chief secretary Shailendra Kumar Joshi on how he obtained a copy of the Ghose Commission report, which, he claimed, contained adverse findings against him.When Joshi’s counsel said the report was made available to him, a bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin pressed further: “How did you get it? Is it something available in the market?” The court recalled its earlier directions to take down the report if uploaded on govt platforms and asked the state’s counsel whether it had been hosted or circulated anywhere.

Joshi’s lawyer Avinash Desai initially said the report might have been downloaded from the internet, but later clarified that his client had been provided with it on Aug 30. The Chief Justice noted, however, that while the petitioner insists he received the report, he has not disclosed by whom. “In similar petitions (filed by former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and ex-minister T Harish Rao), we directed that the report be taken down if hosted on govt websites. If the summary was removed, then the report on which it is based should also be taken down,” the CJ observed. Expressing concern, the court also questioned how the report had entered the public domain and circulated even before it was tabled in the assembly on Aug 31.

Appearing for the advocate general, special govt pleader P Sridhar Reddy told the court that the commission’s report had not been uploaded anywhere. After hearing both sides, the bench directed the petitioner to file an affidavit explaining how he obtained the report, while also asking the state to clarify if the document was available in the public domain despite earlier court orders. The matter was adjourned to Sept 19.