Hyderabad: A division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday ordered the Telangana government to produce Prathyusha, the 19-year-old girl who was rescued from abusive parents, before the court on July 29.
Mr S. Sharath Kumar, counsel for the government, informed the Bench that the doctors would be discharging Pratyusha on Wednesday morning and she could be presented before the court in the afternoon.
The Bench was dealing with a "taken up" case based on a letter by Justice Challa Kodanda Ram to render justice to Pratyusha.While adjourning the matter, the Bench wanted to know whether the state governments of AP and Telangana had mechanisms and rescue homes for girls who underwent such trauma and torture.
Junior civil judges hiring to continue
A division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday said that the recruitment process for junior civil judges would go on in accordance with the Supreme Court orders.
The Bench was dealing with petitions by senior counsel Mr Sarasani Satyam Reddy and others seeking a stay of recruitment of district judges and junior civil judges and also recruitment by transfer and promotion of judicial officers after formation of Telangana.
Advocate general of Telangana, Mr K. Ramakrishna Reddy, made it clear that the government would not accept any recruitment under the AP Judicial Service Rules after the appointed day and even after formation of Telangana Judicial Service Rules.
He complained to the Bench that the High Court was going ahead unilaterally with its decision to recruit judges for the subordinate judiciary in both AP and Telangana without distribution of subordinate judiciary among the two states.
He told the court that the court only had the option of making the T-state sign on the appointment letters against its will under the threat of contempt.
He said, "Once Telangana has formed its own rules to implement in its own territory, it would not be proper to press AP Rules on Telangana. Though we filed our petition before the Supreme Court challenging the ongoing process, it is not even listed so far."
The Bench told the AG that he could not argue before the High Court about his grievance at the Supreme Court.
Counsels Mr S. Satyam Reddy and Mr G. Vidya Sagar objected to the idea of the Bench taking matters forward based on an interim order of the Supreme Court and said if the Telangana state succeeded at the Supreme Court, it would result in undue hardships to these aspirants. The Bench posted the matter to Wednesday.
Water Board told to file affidavit
A division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) to file an affidavit explaining its share in property tax collected by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the works which have been stalled due to non payment of it’s share of tax by the GHMC.
The Bench was dealing with a PIL by BJP leader Mr G.R. Karunakar, complaining that the HMWS&SB was not laying pipelines to supply drinking water to residents of many areas.
He said that when he approached the Board it had replied that it did not have funds and despite a GO from the state government directing the GHMC to pay the water tax component to the Water Board, the corporation had not paid a single rupee.
He submitted that the residential colonies had paid their share of 30 per cent of estimated expenditure for laying pipelines and the GHMC, which has to bear 70 per cent of the cost, had failed to release the amount. He said that because of lack of funds, the HMWS&SB was not taking up any works and citizens were not getting water.
The Bench directed the Board to a file a counter affidavit within two weeks about the alleged paucity of funds and also ordered the GHMC to place its stance before the court through a counter affidavit.
TS, AP told to file report on Agrigold
A division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday sought a report from the governments of Telangana and AP, explaining the steps being taken with regard to non-payment of deposits to the customers by Agri Gold Farms Ltd.
The Bench was dealing with a PIL by the Telangana Agri Gold Customers and Agents Welfare Association, represented by its president Mr A. Ramesh Babu of the city, seeking the intervention of the court to protect the interests of depositors and agents of the company.
The petitioner urged the court to order a probe either by the CBI or ED into the allegations made against the company.
The counsel for the petitioner told the court that as many as 40 lakh depositors were suffering due to non-payment of maturity amounts by the company and so far, about 70 depositors and agents had committed suicide.
After hearing the case, the Bench ordered the DGPs of both states to submit their reports to the court explaining the number of cases registered against the company and whether any arrests had been made so far, and the current status of the case by August 3.
The Bench also issued notices to the respondents, including the company, seeking their stance of the plea.
