Telangana HC stays prosecution of BJP worker

Hyderabad: Justice K. Anupama Chakravarthy of the Telangana High Court directed the Jubilee Hills police station not to take any coercive step against Kirthi Reddy Juturu, a BJP activist, for defamation, based on her comments posted on social media. A complaint was lodged by Madhav Bhaskar, a BRS worker, about her post made on August 30 on X (formerly Twitter), in which she wrote about “atrocities faced by the local public due to political interference from local legislative members of the ruling party.” She said that such posts cannot be said to be provoking people to commit offences against public tranquillity, contending it was an extension of a fundamental right of speech. Counsel E. Venkata Siddhartha pointed out that the averments in the complaint did not constitute an offence under the IPC. He argued that the language of the post neither provoked nor instigated a set of the public against another and therefore Section 153 of IPC would not apply. Siddharth also argued that invoking the provision of intentional insult to provoke breach of peace was not applicable, as the post did not show any intention of causing insult. It was contended that the complaint was lodged to please the political bosses. Justice Chakravarthy pointed out that the MLA had not lodged the complaint. The judge also recorded prima facie that the incidents did not make out the charge. The judge, while directing the police not to take coercive steps, asked the police to examine the complaint, taking into consideration the observations of the court.

No forum for insolvency, complains citizen

A two-judge bench of Telangana High Court on Monday admitted a writ petition complaining that the legal regime does not provide for voluntary insolvency. The bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar asked the Centre to respond to a writ plea filed by Dr Harini Azam, who contended that on enactment of the Indian Bankruptcy Code, civil courts were not accepting insolvency petitions while the code was only applicable to corporates. She complained that there was no legal remedy available to her.

HC questions delay in tribal teacher appointment

Justice P. Madhavi Devi of Telangana High Court directed the Adilabad district collector to report within a week action taken to clear claims of a tribal candidate for appointment to the post of secondary grade teacher (SGT) (Telugu). The judge voiced concern at the lethargy of the authorities. C.H. Divya of Adilabad complained in a writ petition that the authorities had failed to consider her case for appointment based on a notification issued in 2020. She said the district-level screening committee (DLSC) had certified her claim of being Lingadhari Koya of Adilabad as genuine. The court wondered how the authorities could sleep over the recommendations for two years, and posted the matter to September 12.

HC dismisses OU writ appeal

A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court dismissed a writ appeal filed by Osmania University on the appointment of Prof. G. Prasad as associate professor. The university had appealed against an order of a single judge, who, by a common order, dealt with a batch of writ pleas questioning the failure of the university to conduct interviews under the career advancement scheme (CAS) in line with UGC regulations. It was stated that the university was duty-bound to implement the scheme twice a year but it had not done so. The single judge negated the plea of the university that petitioners who had retired were not entitled to the benefit. The single judge directed the university, by its order made in November 2020, to consider the cases of petitioners and extend the benefits of the scale of various posts. The university then filed the present appeal. The bench of Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Justice J. Anil Kumar observed that there was no illegality in the order of the single judge. It dismissed the appeal, effectively requiring the university to take action and consider the case of the candidates under the CAS without reference to the factum of having retired from service.