Hyderabad HC seeks info on undertrials from Telangana and AP

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday directed the member secretaries, State Legal Services Authorities of AP and TS, to submit detailed reports on facilities being provided to juvenile offenders, women prisoners and their children and mentally-challenged undertrials and convicts in prisons of both the states.

A division bench comprising Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy and Justice M.S.K. Jaiswal was dealing with a PIL taken up on a letter by the member-secretary, AP Legal Services Authority, seeking to direct the governments of the two states to take steps for protection of rights of the aforementioned people.

The bench directed the principal secretaries of the social welfare departments of both the states to formulate terms and conditions to identify the mentally-challenged who are not involved any crimes.

While hearing the case, Justice Nagarjuna Reddy said that if the legal service authorities of both the states submit their reports about the situation of undertrial woman prisoners and convicts, the court would pass appropriate orders.

Pointing out the ill fate of the mentally-challenged persons not involved any crimes and their deprivation at the hands of their family and leaving them to roam about in public places, the bench told the secretaries of social welfare department to formulate the terms and conditions and place them before the court in the form of affidavits. The bench adjourned the case for four weeks.

Hearing on Naidu petition concludes
The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday told counsels appearing in the criminal petition moved by AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to file their citations before it challenging an order passed by the ACB Court for further probe in the cash for vote case.

Justice T. Sunil Chowdary was concluding hearing in the case. Siddhartha Luthra, senior counsel from the Supreme Court appearing for Mr Naidu, in his reply arguments contended that there was no provision under the criminal jurisprudence to allow involvement of a third party in a case pending for investigation.

He told the court that when the Special ACB Court took cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the ACB in the case, YSRC MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, who is the complainant in the case, cannot seek orders from the trial court under Section 210 of the Cr.PC. He said that the complaint of the MLA was purely political vendetta.