Justice Nimmagadda Venkateswarlu of the Andhra Pradesh High Court issued an interim order to suspend the Vigilance & Enforcement Department inquiry into irregularities in the implementation of all works under the Neeru-Chettu scheme.
He was hearing a batch of writ petitions in which objections were raised to the instituting of an inquiry without clearing the bills that were to be paid by the TDP government. Advocate N. Srinivasa Rao appeared for the petitioners, who insisted that the bills should be paid immediately.
It may be recalled that some former sarpanches filed the petitions stating that the government did not clear the dues related to works done under Neeru-Chettu, and ordered a probe into the alleged large-scale swindling of funds by contractors.