Contempt Notice for Finance, R&B Brass
The Public Prosecutor argued that the accused was involved in multiple criminal cases and that a rowdy sheet was being maintained against him.
Hyderabad: Justice J. Anil Kumar of the Telangana High Court issued notices in a contempt case against senior officials of the State’s Roads and Buildings and Finance Departments for failing to comply with an earlier court order directing payment of over ₹1.34 crore to a contractor. The contempt proceedings were initiated by S. Narsimha Reddy, a registered Special Class contractor, who alleged that the respondent authorities failed to comply with the directions of this court in the earlier writ petition. It is the case of the petitioner that the authorities failed to release the final bill and balance amounts for the contract work relating to the reconstruction of the HP vented Causeway in Wanaparthy to Jedcharla Road in the Nagarkurnool district as illegal and arbitrary.
The counsel for the petitioner would contend that the work was executed pursuant to an agreement in October , 2021, valued at more than two crore rupees. He would further contend that tokens were issued for the completed work. He would further depose, making a representation in compliance with the order of this court in the earlier writ proceedings, and despite the expiry of the twelve-week period, no action was taken by the authorities in discharging the amount. After hearing the arguments, the judge observed that a prima facie case of contempt was made out and accordingly ordered issuance of a Form-I notice to Vikas Raj, IAS, Special Chief Secretary, Roads and Buildings Department; Sandeep Kumar Sulthania, IAS, Principal Secretary, Finance Department; Mohan Naik, Chief Engineer, Roads and Buildings State Roads; and other officials of the department under Contempt of Court Rules directing them to appear and explain why action should not be taken against them under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
2. Renewal of maize popcorn import challenged
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of the Telangana High Court took on file a writ petition seeking a direction against the issuance and renewal of import licences for popcorn maize, alleging large-scale violations of foreign trade and customs laws. The judge was dealing with a writ plea filed by M/s. Sriven Marketing. The petitioner sought to declare the action of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and other respondent authorities in granting and renewing licences in favour of unofficial respondents as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, the Rules and Orders framed thereunder, and the Customs Act besides being in violation of the provisions of the Constitution of India. According to the plea, the licences enabled import of popcorn maize falling under the tariff item in violation of licence conditions and the Actual User requirement under the Foreign Trade Policy, allegedly causing serious damage to the domestic agricultural market and farming ecosystem.
The petitioner further sought the Court to direct the authorities to confiscate the allegedly illegal stocks of imported popcorn maize and to take immediate steps to prevent diversion of imported goods into the open market. The petitioner sought directions to officials to conduct inspections and searches of the premises, warehouses and offices of the licence holders and to seize consumption registers, stock registers, books of accounts, transport records, invoices and other statutory documents required to be maintained under the Foreign Trade Policy and licence conditions. Further, the petitioner urged the Court to order initiation of penal proceedings under the FTDR Act, 1992 and the Customs Act, 1962, if violations are found, and to require the authorities to submit a detailed report before the Court regarding utilisation and consumption of the imported maize from July 26, 2018, the date of interim orders passed by the Court. After hearing the preliminary submissions, the judge directed the respondents to file their response and posted the matter for further hearing.
Bail to Murder case accused cancelled
The Telangana High Court cancelled the bail granted to an 24 year old accused in a murder case after finding that he allegedly threatened a key witness, thereby violating bail conditions. The judge was dealing with a Criminal Petition filed by the State seeking cancellation of bail granted to accused Bathini Santhosh in an earlier criminal petition. The prosecution contended that after being released on bail, the accused intimidated a crucial witness related to the deceased, leading to registration of fresh crime offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The Public Prosecutor argued that the accused was involved in multiple criminal cases and that a rowdy sheet was being maintained against him. It was submitted that allowing him to remain on bail would create a risk of further threats to witnesses and interference with the course of justice.
Counsel for the accused opposed the plea, stating that the allegations were based only on a subsequent FIR which is still under investigation and that there was no concrete proof of violation of bail conditions. Reliance was placed on Supreme Court judgments stating that cancellation of bail requires strong and compelling reasons. After hearing both sides, the judge observed that one of the conditions of bail was that the accused should not influence or threaten witnesses, and the material placed on record indicated that acted in violation of that condition. The judge held that misuse of liberty granted by the Court is a valid ground for cancellation of bail. Accordingly, the judge allowed the petition, cancelled the bail granted earlier, and directed the accused to surrender before the police.