Hyderabad, April 23 -- The Telangana high court on Wednesday ordered the state government to refrain from coercive action against former chief minister and Bharat Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and others held responsible by the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Commission for alleged irregularities and lapses in the construction of the Kaleswaram lift irrigation project, people familiar with the matter said.

The division bench, consisting of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and justice GM Mohiuddin, hearing arguments over separate petitions by KCR, his nephew and former irrigation minister T Harish Rao, senior IAS officer Smitha Sabharwal and retired IAS officer SK Joshi, also stayed the operational use of the report for further p...