Hyderabad High Court seeks records of garrison killing

Hyderabad: A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the Telangana Home department to submit on June 8 the case records regarding the killing of 11-year-old Shaik Mustafauddin at the Army Garrison in Mehdipatnam.

The bench asked the investigation officer to be present in court on June 8 along with the statements of the father, the person who first witnessed the incident and informed the father and the dying declaration of the boy.

The bench was dealing with a PIL by Gulam Rabbani, an advocate of the city, seeking a direction to the TS government to hand over the case to the CBI for an impartial probe. The boy succumbed to burns on October 8, 2014 and the boy in his dying declaration had stated that two Army personnel had set him ablaze.

Venugopal, counsel for the Home department said the special team which was constituted to probe the case had so far examined 124 witnesses in the case. None of the witnesses including parents of the deceased gave any clue about the involvement of Army personnel in the incident. He said, earlier, the police suspected two soldiers to be involved in the case. One of them committed suicide due to domestic problems and other one is suffering from a neurological disorder.

Report sought on fast track courts

The Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state governments to inform it on June 8 about the steps being taken to set up fast track courts in both the states. A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt was dealing with a plea by T. Dhangopal Rao, an advocate seeking directions to both the governments to set up the fast track courts for cases of violence against women registered under the Criminal Law Amendment Act.

The bench pointed out that it was told there are 60 fast track courts lying defunct in both the states and the High Court already asked the governments to take steps to resume their functioning. Making it clear that the court wants proper action from both the governments, the bench asked the counsel of both the governments to get instructions and place the relevant information before it by next Monday.

Hyderabad High Court seeks counter on fitment PIL

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the Telangana government to file a counter affidavit on a PIL challenging the decision of the government to pay 43 per cent fitment to its employees. The bench was dealing with a PIL by the Forum for Better Living, a voluntary organisation represented by D. Padmaja of Warangal district, seeking to declare the government's decision as illegal.

The petitioner stated that the government had decided to offer 43 per cent fitment as against the 29 per cent recommended by the Tenth Pay Revision Commission. The petitioner alleged that the government acted in a hasty manner in declaring the said fitment contrary to the recommendation made by the PRC. Adjourning the case, the bench granted a week to the government to place its version.

Telangana told to reply on Gandipet land

The Hyderabad High Court on Monday asked the Telangana government to spell out its stance on a plea challenging the united Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to give 16 acres of government land at Gandipet to the Institute of Health Systems at a cost of '1 lakh per acre.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt was dealing with a petition by V. Ravi Babu seeking to suspend operation of GO Ms No: 260 dated February 21, 2009 issued by the erstwhile united AP government allotting land at a nominal price to the Institute to build a world class college of public health.

The petitioner contended that the allotment violated provisions of the rules under AP (TA) Alienation of State Land Revenue Rules 1975. He urged the court to set aside the GO in the interests of the state.

The bench sought to know the stance of the TS government on the plea and directed the counsel for Telangana to file the counter by the next date of hearing. The matter was posted to next week.