The High Court on Tuesday recommended that the state government order a Central Bureau Of Investigation probe against Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy and Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana.
The court's opinion came in the wake of Handlooms & Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao's
explosive disclosure at a press conference in Hyderabad, which was treated as suo-moto by the court to frame charges against them.
Justice L Narasimha Reddy who admitted the press statement into a petition, said that he had referred it to another division bench for trial with a remark that all the charges in the public domain spell out the ongoing deficiency in the present administration.
Dr. Shankar Rao had alleged that Sabitha Indra Reddy has been making money from corruption in allotting postings to several police officers.
He said that if the state government indeed wanted to "sell" postings for police officials, it had better call for tenders and appoint the highest bidder.
"I am ready to face any kind of punishment, including being dropped from the cabinet, if my charges are proved false," Shankar Rao stated.
He also threatened to launch an agitation if the Chief Minister fails to take action against the Home and Excise Ministers.
A day after making these allegations, the minister must be cheering his luck, as his statements in the media were noted by the state High Court, which recommended a CBI enquiry into the allegations.
It may be mentioned here that it was on Shankar Rao's complaint that the High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into the alleged disproportionate assets of YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
Last week, the minister had complained to Congress president Sonia Gandhi that he was not being given proper protection by the state DGP, and also that the CM was deliberately humiliating him. (INN)