300 Families in Dasara Basti Win High Court Reprieve

Hyderabad: Justice B Vijaysen of the Telangana High Court directed the civic authorities and the police not to evict over three hundred families of Vivekanada Gudisevasula Sankshema Sangam from their residence at Dasara Basti, Sanjeev Reddy Nagar. According to the petitioner, its members were economically backwards slum-dwellers eking out their livelihoods as daily-wage workers. It was stated that they had been in uninterrupted possession of property for over three decades having constructed their houses there. It was complained that the civic authorities and station house officer, Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, in the first week of January tried to dispossess the members of the society and held back some of them for long hours at the police station. Thimmappa Thashadlu, president of the petitioner society, in his affidavit alleged that the civic authorities were taking coercive steps against the petitioner without semblance of notice or following due process of law.

HC allows bail for murder convict

A two-judge panel of Telangana High Court enlarged on bail a murder convict. The panel comprising Justice K. Lakshman and Justice V. Ramakrishna Reddy partly allowed a second bail petition by two convicts in a murder case, with reasons supporting why bail was being granted to only one of them. The panel was hearing a criminal appeal filed by Nakka Shankaramma and Nakka Ramesh arising out of a judgment of the Rangareddy District Court convicting them for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing them to life imprisonment. It was the second bail petition pending disposal of the appeal against conviction in the murder case. Counsel for appellants contended that the conviction was primarily based on a dying declaration which suffered from material inconsistencies and required careful scrutiny at the appellate stage. It was submitted that the accused had undergone more than three years of incarceration and that continued detention would cause undue hardship. The panel while declining to grant bail to Ramesh, enlarged Shankaramma on bail, having regard to the individual role attributed to each accused and the overall facts and circumstances of the case.

Convener quota MBBS student seeks fee rlief

Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of the Telangana High Court took on file a writ plea assailing the rejection of fee reimbursement under the post-matric scholarship (PMS) scheme for an undergraduate MBBS course. The judge was dealing with a writ plea filed by Dasari Suprathik, challenging the proceedings issued by the secretary, Scheduled Castes development department rejecting a request for fee reimbursement by placing reliance on a government order. The petitioner specifically contended that he was admitted to the MBBS under the convener quota and was therefore eligible for fee reimbursement under the PMS scheme. It was argued that the GO relied upon by the authorities explicitly recognised the eligibility of convener quota students, and hence the rejection of the petitioner’s claim was ex-facie contrary to the provisions of the GO. Assailing the impugned action, the petitioner submitted that the rejection was arbitrary, illegal, and vitiated by non-application of mind, besides being violative of the principles of natural justice. It was contended that the action of the respondents infringed on the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed under the Constitution, including the right to equality before law and the right to education. The judge directed the government pleader appearing for the respondents to obtain instructions from the authorities.