HC disapproves digital communication with layman

Hyderabad: Justice T. Vinod Kumar of the Telangana High Court disapproved of the use of hi-tech communication platforms when dealing with the layman. He was critical of the procedure followed under the TS Building Permission Approval and Self Certification System (TS-bPASS) Act, 2020. The judge was dealing with a writ plea filed by Nalluri Sreelakshmi challenging the action of authorities in revoking the permission granted in respect of a ground-plus-two floor residential building on the petitioner’s property at Mahadevapuram residential layout project phase III, Quthbullapur. The judge wondered how the civic authorities expected villagers and people in small towns to be aware of updates on websites. He said that it was unfair on the part of civic authorities to state that the rejection of the application had been posted on the website and thus the construction was illegal. He also said the authorities must necessarily take recourse to Section 630 of the GHMC Act. The provision mandates the procedure of serving a notice, it requires “if such person does not reside in the city, and his address elsewhere is known to the commissioner by forwarding the said notice, bill, schedule, summons or other documents to him by post under cover bearing the said addresses; or (d) if none of the means of aforesaid be available by causing the said notice, bill, schedule, summons or other document to be affixed on some conspicuous part of the building or land, if any, to which the same relates.”

Validity of LRS can be adjudicated without state’s counter: HC

A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court made it clear that it would proceed to adjudicate on the validity of the land regularisation scheme (LRS) even in the absence of a counter affidavit from the state. The panel, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Anil Kumar, was dealing with a PIL filed by Anwar Khan and another challenging a government order issued in December 2014, wherein the government gave orders to alienate and regularise possession of unobjectionable government land and surplus land under urban land ceiling in respect of the possessions held by people, on payment basis for possession held for both residential and non-residential purposes. Counsel for the petitioner, Chikkudu Prabhakar, complained that though the PIL was filed in 2015 the government had not found it necessary in the last nine years to file its response. The panel finally adjourned the matter to next week.

HC takes on file plea of crushing unit on power disconnection

Justice S. Nanda of the Telangana High Court took on file a writ plea of a metal crushing unit whose power connection was allegedly disconnected. The writ petitioner, Venkataramana metal crush said that the superintending engineer, TSSPDC, Sangareddy circle, had arbitrarily disconnected power without issuing any notice to the extent. This, the petitioner contended, was contrary to provisions of the Electricity Supply Code Regulation 5 of 2004 and The Electricity Act 2003. The judge directed the standing counsel to get instructions and posted the matter to April 24.