Hyderabad: Taking note of the lapses on the part of bureaucrats and lawyers appearing for the government, the Hyderabad High Court has set aside two orders passed by the Vizianagaram RDO and the Estate Abolition Tribunal cum District Judge of Vizianagaram declaring 130 acres of Poramboke Konda land located at Sarabhapuram Mettu Thota as patta lands. Justice A. Ramalingeswara Rao while allowing petitions filed by the state against the orders of the RDO and the Estate Abolition Tribunal observed, “The hill is sought to be moved and it cannot be allowed due to the lapses of bureaucrats. Public interest demands adjudication.”
The judge said, “The government should produce the record. The manipulators cannot be allowed to have the day with the help of unscrupulous officers.”
The judge found that the lands originally belonged to the Inamdar of Nidigattu Agraharam and were a part of the erstwhile Vizianagaram estate. They were taken over by the government under the AP (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act of 1948, on September 7, 1959.
The judge noted that the RDO and the Estate Abolition Tribunal had granted orders in favour of the claimants who said they were ryotwari lands, without verifying records which indicated that the land had been free from encroachments prior to the notified date.
The government contended that the claimants were encroachers and the registered sale documents produced by them were not related to the Poramboke Konda. It said that all exhibits relied upon by the respondents to support their claim were from the post-abolition period, and the documents from the pre-abolition period did not indicate that there had been cultivation on the lands.
The judge remanded the matter to the RDO for consideration afresh within six months.
Plea against Bajaj dismissed
The HC dismissed a petition seeking to declare the Union of India’s act of giving a Padma Bhushan to Rahul Bajaj, the chairman of the Bajaj Group of Companies, as illegal.
Justice C. Praveen Kumar dismissed the petition filed by Nagothu Satyanarayana for revocation of the Padma Bhushan awarded to Mr Bajaj for misusing the award by referring to himself as an awardee in a criminal petition at the HC. The petitioner said that he had a flex printing business in Vijayawada named Satya Digitals. He said that Bajaj Auto Finance Company Ltd. filed a false complaint against him on July 31, 2010, at the Patamata Police Station, accusing him of cheating. He was acquitted by the IV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Vijayawada.
After his acquittal, the petitioner filed a complaint with the IV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Vijayawada, in 2016, against Mr Rahul Baja and Mr Sanjiv Bajaj, a branch manager of Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd., under Section 499 of the IPC, for damaging his reputation.
Bajaj Finance Ltd. and Mr Rahul Bajaj moved a criminal petition in the HC in 2016, seeking to quash the proceedings pending against them at the Court of the IV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
In the petition, it was stated that Mr Rahul Bajaj had received many awards, the most notable among them being the Padma Bhushan.
While dismissing the petition for revocation of the award, Justice Praveen Kumar said, “It is to be noted that the description which is found fault with is not an affidavit filed by Mr Rahul Bajaj in the quash petition before the HC.”
The judge relied on the SC order in the Balaji Raghavan case, where it was held that Bharat Ratna and Padma awards were not titles, and could not be used by individuals while portraying themselves in any forum.
The judge said, "This is not a case where Mr Rahul Bajaj has portrayed himself by claiming to be an awardee."
Diwakar withdraws plea
Telugu Desam MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy on Friday withdrew his petition from HC which he had moved challenging the flying ban imposed on him. The MP challenged the action of eight airline companies imposing ban on him from flying. It may be mentioned here that the airline companies imposed flying ban on the MP for his alleged misbehavior with Indigo Airlines staff at Visakhapatnam airport on June 16, 2017.
Recently Vistara Airlines (Indigo) has announced that it has withdrawn the ban imposed on the MP.
The judge dismissed the petition as withdrawn.
No stay on July 23 TE Test
The HC on Friday refused to stay the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) scheduled for July 23, 2017 in Telangana.
Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao while dealing with a lunch motion by Ms Arrolla Rama, an aspirant, made it clear that the court cannot grant interim orders without hearing respondents in the case.
The petitioner told the court that the guidelines and syllabus issued by the state government to conduct the TET under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, (RTE), 2009 was above that mandated by NCTE.
Admitting the plea the judge posted the case after three weeks.
TSSPDCL chief gets notice
The HC has issued contempt notice to the Chairman and MD of TSSPDCL for violating its orders issued earlier.
Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao issued the notices when Dr. K Lakshmi Narasimha, counsel appearing for Mr N.S.R. Murthy and other divisional engineers of TSSPDCL brought to the notice of the court that the TSSPDCL had decided promotions contrary to earlier orders of the court.
He reminded that earlier when N.S.R. Murthy and others approached the court challenging the promotion of Leelavathi as SE, the HC had suspended the seniority list by directing that any promotions either by way of adhoc or in charge must be made as per the earlier seniority list of 2013.
He submitted that nearly 100 promotions were given illegally and the Corporation has blocked all those matters from the Internet so that those copies are not available.
Mr Vidya Sagar, senior counsel appearing for TSSPDCL argued that these posts are selection posts and discretion vested with the authority to give promotions.
The pointed out that when the orders of the court are clear that any promotions should be based strictly upon seniority, the Corporation cannot deviate from the order. Suspending the orders of promotions the judge issued contempt notice.
