HC Admits Age Certificate Plea

HYDERABAD: A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday ordered notice in a writ appeal for correction of date of birth in a CBSE certificate. The appellant Rohit, a student of BITS Pilani Hyderabad, in a second round of litigation, said his date of birth is wrongly entered as August 16, 1991, while he was born on the same date in 1993. The petitioner pointed out that he was born at the Government Civil Hospital SR Nagar and his birth has been certified by GHMC. The wrong date of birth was attributed to his maternal grandfather, who wrongly entered his date of birth at the time of getting into school. When the petitioner sought correction of the date of birth, the board rejected it on the ground that there was a delay of 245 days in applying for the correction. The said order, however, was set aside by the single-judge bench, on the basis that the time prescribed for change was not akin to the law of limitation. The court had earlier directed the board to consider a fresh case of the petitioner and also left it open to the board to procure any other material and consider genuine documents. However, when the application was again rejected and challenged before the High Court, the court held that the petitioner was not entitled to the relief sought. The single-judge bench dismissed the petition. Senior counsel D.V. Sitaram Murthy contended that the subsequent decision of the board made the earlier order of the court non-existent, and the court could not have done so. The bench took on the file and said the matter required a detailed hearing.

Cable connection rate writ admitted

A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court, of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T. Vinod Kumar, on Wednesday, voiced its intent to hear all parties over writ petitions filed by the Cable Operators Federation, challenging the revision of collection rates from '19 to '12. The federation contended that the validity of such revision aligned with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act. The petitioner is the Federation of Multi-System Operators, the last-mile link connecting consumers with MSOs and broadcasters. The Central government amended the regulation, substituting the rate under its bucket or à la carte offerings. The offerings by the cable operators under the two systems offer either a specified collection or validity to be chosen by the customer from the menu card. It is the case of the Central government that downward revision in the levy is a policy decision. It is also pointed out that similar challenges are before the High Courts of Karnataka, Kerala, Mumbai, Punjab, and Haryana, and no stay was granted. An application for impleadment was filed by the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation, saying that they ought to be heard as any decision in the litigation is likely to affect their interest. The court granted time to ‘WIPS’, making it clear that its prima facie approval is to hear all concerned and not shut off opinions from different sources. The bench posted the matter to August 16.

HC to review Koti Hospital condition

A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court will judicially review the alleged failure of the state government in providing basic facilities at the Koti Government Maternity Hospital. Rapolu Bhaskar, a practising advocate of the High Court, addressed a letter, complaining that the medical and health department was not providing basic and adequate facilities to pregnant women and newborns at the Koti Government Maternity Hospital. He pointed out that in the absence of proper infrastructure, pregnant women were required to stand for hours to get outpatient treatment and are often seen squatting on the floor. The court directed the Vidya Vidhan Parishad and the government to file their responses by August 10.

Revenue authorities remove signage from court complex

The state government informed the High Court that it has removed a board fixed by the revenue authorities at the City Civil Court in Secunderabad. The High Court earlier took on file a communication made by the Chief Judge City Civil Court Secunderabad, complaining of high-handed action by revenue authorities along with the Maredpally police, who, on April 1, erected a board on the court premises, stating that the land parcel was a government one. After the removal, the affidavit of the Tahsildar was directed to be placed before the bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T. Vinod Kumar, and will be heard on August 3.

HC allows nominations for HWP union election

Justice P. Madhavi Devi of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday allowed employees of the heavy water plant (HWP), Manuburu, to proceed with their union elections, after the HWP association approached the High Court challenging the imposition of the condition that employees contesting elections shall take prior permission from the government. According to the said condition, employees can contest the elections only for two terms or five years, whichever is earlier. The counsel for the petitioner T. Swetcha contended that the said restriction was against objective of the trade unionism. It was further contended that the employee’s association was under the Trade Unions Act in the year 1986 and surprisingly, the government was imposing a restriction for the first time in four decades. The Central government’s standing counsel, representing the department of atomic energy, replied that the process for imposing restrictions started in 2019 and said restrictions will give a fair chance to all the employees to contest in the elections. The court, after hearing both sides, directed that no prior sanction should be insisted upon for the issuance of nomination forms to candidates scheduled to be given on July 29. The court further granted one week's time, as requested by the standing counsel, to obtain further instructions.