Telangana HC questions lack of ward committees

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the Chief Secretary, principal secretary of the municipal administration and urban development department and the GHMC commissioner to furnish reasons by August 21 for appointing ward offices instead of constituting ward committees.

The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji, issued notices seeking the officials’ response on a PIL filed by M. Padmanabha Reddy of the NGO Forum for Good Governance. The PIL sought directions to the state government and the GHMC to constitute ward committees as mandated under Article 243S of the Constitution and Section 8A of the GHMC Act, 1955.

The petitioner contended that under the guise of ward-level governance, the government has set up ward offices in place of committees, which comprise an elected chair, elected representatives of civil society and an officer nominated by the GHMC commissioner to serve as secretary.

A ward committee takes up issues like solid waste management, prevention of unauthorised constructions, encroachments and discouraging plastic use, among other works, in collaboration with the town planning, engineering, sanitation, entomology and water works departments.

HC queries govt on state consumer commission vacancy

A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji, on Monday, questioned the state government over its timeline to fill the post of president for the Telangana State Consumer Commission.

The bench said that the post cannot be kept vacant for long, as it is a key post in redressing consumer grievances and protecting them against defects in goods, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices.

The court was dealing with a PIL filed by advocate Baglekar Akash Kumar, who has co-authored a book on the Consumer Protection Act, and argued that the case as the party in person.

Kumar informed the court that though a notification was issued in 2022 calling for eligible persons to fill the vacancy, it has been pending since February 21, 2023.

The TS Consumer Commission has jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the total value of the price paid for goods or services is between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, besides also entertaining appeals and revisions against the decisions of the 12 District Consumer Commissions located across the state.

The court directed the special government counsel to get instructions on the PIL and adjourned the matter to July 25.