Telangana HC Raps Sircilla Collector for Troubling Victim

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court pulled up Rajanna Sircilla district collector Sandeep Kumar Jha for flouting its orders, noting that his conduct reflected disregard for the rule of law. The court initially considered initiating suo motu contempt proceedings, but refrained in view of his long service record.

The case involved a victim of land acquisition in 2004 who was declared eligible by the High Court for resettlement and rehabilitation benefits as a project-displaced family. Despite this, the collector directed registration of a criminal case against the victim, alleging she had obtained favourable orders through fraudulent submissions. An FIR under Section 420 IPC was filed, based solely on correspondence from the collector’s office.

Justice Jukanti Anil Kumar, hearing the victim’s petition, said the collector had no jurisdiction to order the case when her eligibility had already been determined by the court and no orders were passed against her in appeal. The judge described it as an abuse of administrative powers, an overreach that undermined judicial authority and a violation of constitutional rights. The court directed the Chief Secretary’s office to reprimand the collector to prevent the recurrence of such acts.

Single judge told to decide on OG

Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana High Court on Thursday kept in abeyance till Friday the interim order of a single-judge bench suspending a government memo that allowed enhanced ticket prices for the Pawan Kalyan starrer They Call Him OG. The case has been remanded to the single judge.

The division bench asked the single judge to hear the producers’ contentions on Friday and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law, without being influenced by its observations.

Producers DVV Entertainments, aggrieved by the earlier suspension, filed an appeal before the division bench of Justices Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Vakiti Ramakrishna Reddy. Senior counsel Avinash Desai, appearing for the producers, argued that the government had rightly granted an exemption under Section 12 of the Telangana Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955, after reviewing their representation. The exemption, he said, applied only from September 24 to October 4 and would also benefit the government through enhanced GST.

Petitioner Barla Mallesh Yadav, who opposed the hike, argued that the government was selectively granting exemptions. The court noted that only one working day remained before the Dasara vacation and directed the single judge to hear all parties and decide the matter on September 26.

Smita Sabharwal gets HC relief till Oct. 7

Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin directed the state government not to take adverse action against IAS officer Smita Sabharwal, who was with the Chief Minister’s office during the BRS regime, based on the Justice P.C. Ghose commission into the Kaleshwaram barrages till October 7, the next date of hearing.

The Chief Justice bench extended protection to the petitioner as was granted to former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, former minister T. Harish Rao and the former chief secretary S.K. Joshi.

J. Ramchander Rao, senior counsel representing Sabharwal, informed the court that the Justice Ghose commission had made scathing and serious observations against the petitioner, which exposed her to civil and disciplinary proceedings from the department and sought the suspension of its report. Senior counsel read out the part of the commission report, which made serious observations against Sabharwal and found her to be negligent and irresponsible in discharging her duties and held her liable for adverse action.

The Justice Ghose commission had noted that Sabharwal had accorded administrative sanction and approvals for the construction of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages and files pertaining to this aspect were not placed before the commission.