GHMC Staffer Booked in 2005 Acquitted by HC
Justice E.V. Venugopal dismissed the ACB’s appeal on the ground that the de-facto complainant during in his cross-examination had admitted that he had lodged the complaint out of a grudge
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court upheld the acquittal of a staffer of the erstwhile MCH (GHMC) who had been booked in 2005 under the charges of accepting a Rs 500 bribe to mutate house ownership. The ACB approached the High Court in 2013, challenging his acquittal by an ACB special court earlier that year.
Justice E.V. Venugopal dismissed the ACB’s appeal on the ground that the de-facto complainant during in his cross-examination had admitted that he had lodged the complaint out of a grudge, as the staffer had declined his request to mutate his name in the records, without proper documentation.
Arshit Kumar, junior assistant in the tax section in the office of the additional commissioner, MCH, Secunderabad, was accused of demanding a bribe to carry out the mutation of a house and had stalled the proceedings when he was not paid.
Based on the de facto complainant’s word, the DSP, ACB, on 21.04.2005 arrested him after tainted cash was caught from him. In 2013, the ACB special court acquitted of the charges. But, the ACB filed an appeal before the High Court against the ACB special court orders.
HC Suspends CCLA Order on Classifying Govt Property
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has suspended orders of the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration ( CCLA) in classifying as government property, 16.24 acres in Survey No. 129 and 8.26 acres in Survey No. 142 of Sulthanpally, Shamshabad mandal, Rangareddy district.
The court said it would examine the authority of the CCLA in taking up the suo motu case under Section 166B of the Telangana Area (Land Revenue) Act, 1317 Fasli, and conducting an inquiry into the classification of land.
The court was dealing with a petition filed by Krishna Reddy and others challenging the CCLA proceedings over the land. The petitioners said the land was recorded as patta from the Khasra Pahani and several transactions and alienation took place and were authorized by the registration department. In suo motu proceedings, all of a sudden, the CCLA issued proceedings classifying the land as government land.
Rohit, counsel for the petitioners argued that CCLA had acted without jurisdiction and Section 166B of the Act, under which it had taken action, only provides revisional authority and not suo motu cognisance. Further, he submitted that the entries made in Khasra Pahani records were made statutory and the Records Of Rights Act was a special law and would prevail over general law i.e., provisions of Telangana Land Revenue Act, 1317 Fasli.
SC Dismisses Srinivas’ Plea for MLA Status
Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by Vemulawada Congress MLA Aadi Srinvas who sought a direction to declare him as MLA of the constituency for the elections conducted in 2018.
Srinivas’ contention was that the Telangana High Court had declared Ramesh Chennamaneni of the BRS as a German citizen and disqualified him from contesting elections and holding public office. However, it had failed to formally declare Srinivas, who had secured the second-highest votes in 2018, as Vemulawada MLA.
He brought to the notice of the court that Ramesh continued to draw legislative benefits, including a pension, even after the High Court faulted his suppression of facts.
A Supreme Court bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice N.K. Singh said that the court could not "resurrect" the matter as the term of the election was over. The bench said that it was not inclined to intervene in the High Court’s orders. The court pointed out that after the Centre declared Ramesh a non-citizen in 2019, he did not contest the elections thereafter. The petitioner challenged Ramesh’s election in 2018.
Srinivas has been challenging Ramesh's election for 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2018. He complained that Ramesh played fraud regarding citizenship and got elected as MLA four times. According to the law, the fraudulent acts shall be declared as void. Hence, he requested to delete the name of Ramesh as Vemulawada MLA from the records and declare him (Srinivas) as MLA because he had secured the next highest bumber of votes. According to Srinivas, the Supreme Court suggested that he approach the authorities concerned in the state to take action against Ramesh.
In December last year, the Telangana High Court imposed a cost of `30 lakh on Ramesh for suppressing material facts regarding his German citizenship. The Telangana High Court on March 19, 2025 in an election petition filed by Srinivas, refused to declare him as MLA in the 2018 elections. Challenging the same, Srinivas approached the Supreme Court.