Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday appointed an advocates’ commission with two woman lawyers to inspect the Government Maternity Hospital at King Koti and inquire into the facilities available in the hospital and also the difficulties facing by women patients, particularly pregnant ones, and submit a report. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice P. Naveen Rao was dealing with a taken up matter following a letter written by Justice U. Durga Prasad Rao to the ACJ Chief Justice based on news reports about the pathetic conditions prevailing in the hospital and also pregnant women having to stand for hours to avail treatment.
TS advocate-general K. Ramakrishna Reddy and Mahender Reddy, special counsel for government, arguing on behalf of the government, said that the hospital is a 160-bedded one, visited by over 300 patients every day. Reacting to the submissions, the bench questioned whether it was the responsibility of the government to provide adequate facilities to the patients or not.
The bench said whenever the patients’ number crossed the intake capacity, it would be the responsibility of the hospital authorities to accommodate them in other hospitals. It was not proper for the authorities to leave the pregnant to their fate, forcing them to wait under the shade of trees in the hospital premises.
At this juncture, Mr Mahender Reddy said many outpatients along with attendants visit the hospital every day. The bench expressed displeasure at him and told him not to try over up the mistakes of the hospital authorities. When the A-G tried to convince the bench, it said that the court was dissatisfied with the affairs prevailing in the hospital and constituted an advocates commission with Ms Padmaja and Ms Jayanthi. The panel was asked to visit the hospital and submit a detailed report within three weeks.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice P. Naveen Rao of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed the governments of AP and TS to take action against the erring owners of brick kilns and submit the action taken report before the court. The bench took a serious view of the failure of the owners of the brick kilns to deposit the wages in the open bank accounts of migrant labour working in TS and AP.
The bench was dealing with a case remitted from the Supreme Court of India with regard to pathetic conditions of migrant labourers in Odisha and undivided AP. Earlier, the bench ordered governments of the two states to take steps for opening of bank accounts for the labourers and to ensure that the owners pay wages to them through bank accounts in order to have accountability.
While hearing the case, the bench told counsels of both governments that opening of bank accounts was not the criteria, but it was to be seen whether the brick kiln owners were depositing the wages directly into the accounts of the labour or not. When counsels replied that some brick kiln owners were doing so, the bench, seemingly not satisfied with the reply, pointed out the action initiated against the erring owners. The bench said that issuance of notices to them would not solve the problem, but action needs to be taken against the erring owners. While adjourning the matter to July 4 for further hearing, the bench directed counsels to submit action taken reports in the case.
HC to hear petitions on exorbitant school fees:
The Hyderabad High Court will hear a batch of petitions on Wednesday seeking vacation of the stay granted by it earlier on implementation of GO Ms No. 42 issued to regulate fee structure in private schools and also to direct the governments of both TS and AP to take action against the managements of schools for collecting exorbitant fees. The erstwhile AP government had issued GO Ms No 42 on July 30, 2010 to implement Right to Education Act in all private schools and also regulate the fee structure.
K. Guru Murthy, a practising advocate of the High Court and one of the petitioners, made a mention before a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice P. Naveen Rao submitting that the High Court in 2010 and again in 2014 granted interim order by suspending the GO in eight petitions moved separately by the private school managements.
In view of the interim order, the authorities in both TS and AP are facing hurdles in proceeding against private schools, and parents in Telangana had already taken to the roads protesting the hike in school fee, he said, and urged the bench to take up the case in view of the urgency. The bench directed the Registry to list the case on Wednesday.
