HC Takes On File Writ Plea against NEET Discrepancies

 Hyderabad: Echoes of the infirmities in the NEET are now being heard in the Telangana High Court while the credibility of the results is under challenge before the Supreme Court. Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy took on file a writ plea on a related issue. The judge was dealing with a writ plea filed by an 18-year-old student, Abhiram Reddy. The petitioner alleged that Question No. 27 of the NEET-UG Paper 1 was out of syllabus. He contended that the final answer key mistakenly marked bit 4 instead of bit 3 as the correct answer for Question No. 147. The petitioner complained that due to these discrepancies, his score was 581 instead of 586 and his overall rank was adversely affected. The petitioner alleged that despite sending out a revised legal notice on June 16, seeking rectification of the marks awarded to him, the authorities had failed to take any steps. The judge asked the Director General, National Testing Agency, and others to respond to the plea and posted the matter for further adjudication.

HC sets aside conviction, orders release of accused

Justice K. Surender of the Telangana High Court set aside the conviction of a spouse sentenced to undergo four years imprisonment on an allegation of culpable homicide. According to the prosecution, the appellant murdered his wife to whom he was married for 18 years in December 2012, after an altercation. In the altercation, the accused is alleged to have thrown a sickle on his wife, which led to multiple injuries, which proved fatal. The circumstances are that (i) the accused was alone present in the house along with the deceased at the time of the commission of offence and (ii) the accused cut his throat with a knife when the deceased fell on the ground with bleeding injuries and the injury on the neck of the accused was self-inflicted. On the basis of the inference drawn by the sessions judge, a conviction was recorded. Faulting the approach of the sessions court, Justice Surrender pointed out, “The prosecution has not brought on record any evidence convincing the court that there were any injuries on the accused or that he was treated in a hospital.” The judge added the prosecution failed to establish this beyond reasonable doubt. The judge also said, “The sessions judge having found that no recoveries were effected at the instance of the appellant has erred in coming to a conclusion that the appellant was present in the house and found in unconscious state with bleeding injuries, on the basis of confession of accused and assumptive evidence.” “In a case such as this when there is no direct evidence, the court ought to have relied upon any convincing circumstance to prove the case of the prosecution. The sessions judge had assumed that the accused was found in the house in an unconscious state, without any evidence. Such assumptions are contrary to the investigation and evidence on record cannot be formed basis to find the accused guilty. Since the basis for conviction of the accused by the sessions judge is a result of his imagination and inadmissible confession, without any admissible evidence, the said conviction has to be set aside.” The judge ordered immediate release of the accused.

Consider release of death benefits to constable’s widow: Mulugu SP told

Justice Pulla Karthik of the Telangana High Court directed the superintendent of police, Mulugu, and other departments to consider representations of a widow seeking the release of death benefits of her deceased husband. The judge took on file a writ plea filed by Boggam Vinoda, wife of the deceased head constable at Tadwai police station. The petitioner alleged that the respondent authorities failed to release death benefits after her husband’s death and were dodging the matter for the last two years. The petitioner alleged that the respondent authorities failed to consider her representation and legal notice and acted in an illegal manner. After considering the material, the judge directed the respondent authorities to consider the representation of the petitioner.

HC defers commercial appeal settlement

A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court deferred hearing of a commercial appeal filed by the management of Cafe Bahar and restaurant to examine the possibility of a settlement. The panel, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Anil Kumar, was dealing with a commercial appeal filed by Bibi Hajjar Dashti, a partner in the café. The present appeal was filed against an order of the commercial court Hyderabad, by which the application for appointing a receiver to run the business was decided. Syed Ali Asghar Bolooki was appointed to run the cafe. It was contended by the appellant that there was a dispute between the appellant and the respondent and therefore the respondent should not have been appointed as the receiver. Earlier, the panel had said that there existed an element of amicable settlement and appointed J. Prabhakar, senior counsel, as mediator to resolve the dispute. The panel at the request of the parties adjourned the matter by four weeks for reporting settlement.