HYDERABAD: TPCC treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy accused Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of forcing the senior bureaucrats and other officials to mislead the Telangana High Court on the TSRTC issue.
In a media statement issued on Wednesday, Narayana Reddy alleged that it was at the chief minister’s insistence that the officials presented selected statistics before the High Court and concealed the figures of money the government owed to the Corporation.
“KCR has already made up his mind to privatise the RTC so as to take control over its assets worth thousands of crores, and therefore, he is willingly disobeying the directives of the High Court. Unfortunately, many senior officials, deliberately or unknowingly, were supporting the chief minister in violating the law and rules,” he alleged.
He warned that the High Court might initiate ‘contempt of court’ proceedings if the officials continue to mislead it or furnish incorrect and incomplete information. Since the State is run by the Executive, the chief secretary and other bureaucrats would face the action and not the chief minister. Therefore, the bureaucrats should follow the rules and act as per law instead of protecting the political and commercial interests of KCR, he said.
The officials may face severe action if they deliberately violate the relevant laws on the RTC issues, he said, adding that the legal battle on RTC issues is no more confined to the lives of nearly 50,000 employees or the very survival of a corporation.
The Congress leader said the fight for RTC is now directly linked with the survival of democracy and restoration of Constitution in Telangana. He expressed the fear that democracy would be in serious danger if the RTC employees lose the battle for their rights.