Notice to Telangana for re-employing engineers-in-chief

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Monday issued notices to the Telangana state government seeking its stand on a PIL challenging the re-employment of three chief engineers of the Panchayat Raj department as incharge engineers-in-chief after their retirement.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili was dealing with the PIL by Telangana State Panchayat Raj Civil Engineers Forum represented by its president K Shyam Sundar. The PIL said norms speficied by GO Ms No 55 dated May 2, 2016 to reappoint Mr M. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Mr G. Krupakar Reddy and Mr M. Satyanarayana Reddy as incharge engineers-in-chief.

Mr P.V. Krishnaiah, counsel appearing for the petitioner, submitted that there was no power vested in GO No. 55 to extend the service of retired engineers. He said the action of the government would affect the chances of other officers in the department who were due for promotion, depriving them of their their rights under Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India. He submitted said regular promotions were not effected in the panchayat raj and rural water supply departments after they were bifurcated. Because of this, a number of officers got undue promotions as in-charge officers.

Sub-registrars’ bail cancelled
The Hyderabad High Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to three sub-registrars accused in the Miyapur land scam case. Justice Shameem Akhter was allowing a petition by the ACB seeking to cancel the bail granted to sub-registrars Rachakonda Srinivasa Rao (Kukatpally) and Md. Yusuf (Balanagar) and Medchal joint sub-registrar Ramesh Chander Reddy.

The Anti Corruption Bureau had registered disproportionate assets cases against the three officers alleging that they had accumulated properties not in proportion to their known sources of income. Senior counsel P. Ravi Kiran Rao appearing for the ACB, submitted that the trial court had granted the bail without considering its objections. He said that in view of serious allegations that the accused faced, of indulging in fraudulent registrations of government land for monetary considerations, the ACB had to question them to unearth the wealth amassed by the accused.

Court takes up letter on Gutka
The Hyderabad High Court has suo motu taken up a case seeking to direct the Telangana state government to take steps to curb the illegal sale of gutka and liquor. The High Court took the case based on a letter written by social activist Ch. Pramila of Kodad  to the the Chief Justice seeking intervention of the court to prevent sale of gutka and illicit liquor. Ms Pramila said the trade was banned but was going on with the support of political leaders and police. The Chief Justice referred the letter to the PIL committee which decided to take up the case as a PIL in view of the ban on gutka from January 9, 2013.