Telangana High Court Directs Government to Upload All GOs, Emphasises Transparency in Governance

Hyderabad, Dec 2025 : The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to upload all Government Orders (GOs), circulars, rules, and notifications on its official website, underlining that transparency in governance is a fundamental democratic obligation and not a matter of discretion.

A single-judge bench of Justice Surepalli Nanda took serious exception to the failure of the government to place a majority of official orders in the public domain. The court observed that citizens have an unquestionable and inherent right to access government decisions and policies that directly impact public life.

Directing the authorities to strictly comply with the guidelines laid down in Government Order (GO) No. 4 dated April 10, 2017, the judge stressed that all official documents must be comprehensively published online to ensure easy public access. The court noted that non-disclosure of such information defeats the very purpose of transparent governance.

“Transparency is not a choice but a basic requirement of democracy,” Justice Nanda observed, adding that withholding government orders undermines accountability and erodes public trust in institutions.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by Errolla Srinivas, former chairman of the Telangana SC/ST Commission. The petitioner contended that the State government had deliberately and systematically failed to upload GOs, thereby depriving citizens of their right to information and creating conditions conducive to corruption and misuse of power.

During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner placed before the court data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, highlighting the scale of non-compliance by the government. The information was furnished in response to an RTI query filed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA and former minister T. Harish Rao.

According to the reply issued by the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Department, a total of 19,064 GOs were issued between December 7, 2023 and January 26, 2025. However, only 3,290 of these orders were uploaded and made available to the public. The remaining 15,774 GOs were not accessible in the public domain, raising serious concerns about transparency and governance practices.

The court viewed the data as alarming and indicative of systemic failure to adhere to established norms mandating disclosure of official decisions.

Reacting strongly to the High Court’s order, Harish Rao said the directive was a “slap in the face” of what he termed the so-called people’s government. In a post on social media platform ‘X’, the former minister targeted Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, stating that merely calling oneself a “people’s government” was not enough.

“You should reveal what you are secretly doing behind the veil of these dark government orders,” Harish Rao said, alleging that the Congress government had betrayed its promises of transparency and people-centric governance.

He further stated that the political drama enacted by the Congress after coming to power had now been exposed through the Public Interest Litigation filed by senior BRS leader Errolla Srinivas, which was based on the RTI response.

The High Court’s order is expected to put pressure on the State government to immediately rectify the lapses and ensure that all official decisions are made accessible to the public, reinforcing transparency and accountability in administration.

Team Maverick.