No clarity on Lokur panel probe, term to end Oct 31

Hyderabad: Two-and-a-half months after former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur was appointed to head the inquiry commission on power purchase agreements and construction of Yadadri and Bhadradri thermal power plants, there is still no clarity on the probe.
Especially, whether the new inquiry commission will begin the hearings afresh or continue from where his predecessor, Justice L Narasimha Reddy, had left.The three-month term of the inquiry commission is coming to an end by Oct-end.
Justice Lokur was appointed on July 30 for a period of three months after Justice Reddy stepped down following Supreme Court's remarks on him. Official sources said Justice Lokur has not yet sent any letter seeking an extension of time to submit the report to the govt.
Sources in the govt said the former SC judge is spending some days in Hyderabad and some days in Delhi. He is currently going through the documents on the probe done by his predecessor, who had summoned 28 officers pertaining to the inquiry and conducted hearings. The apex court earlier said the new commission can continue the probe from where it was stalled.
The new commission has also not taken any decision on whether to summon former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao to the inquiry or not. KCR was summoned by the previous commission either in person or to send his clarification in the form of an affidavit. KCR, however, refused to appear before the commission and sent a letter making allegations against Justice Reddy.
Justice Reddy quit owing to the controversy over revealing updates of the probe to the media. Former energy minister G Jagadish Reddy was also asked to file an affidavit on the PPAs, apart from secretaries of the energy department and chairmen and managing directors who worked in TGTransco and Genco during that time.
Meanwhile, the term of another inquiry commission on Medigadda and two other barrages, Annaram and Sundilla, by Justice PC Ghose, will also conclude by the end of this month. The govt is likely to give another extension to the commission as Justice Ghose is waiting for the vigilance and enforcement department's final report and the National Dam Safety Authority report on Medigadda piers sinking and also leakages in two other barrages.
This inquiry commission has completed hearings of engineers and also conducted a cross-examination.