Accused in Viveka Murder Enlarged on Bail

 Hyderabad: Justice K. Lakshman of the Telangana High Court enlarged on bail an accused, who was allegedly involved in criminal conspiracy to commit murder and destroy evidence at the crime scene by concealing grievous injuries on the body of the deceased. G. Uday Kumar Reddy is arrayed as an accused for alleged conspiracy to murder former Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. The petitioner approached the court seeking bail on the ground that he was arraigned as an accused in a subsequent second supplementary charge sheet. He was not arraigned as an accused in the initial charge sheet and also in the first supplementary chargesheet filed by CBI. The authority alleged that as per their subsequent investigation it was discovered that the petitioner was an employee of Uranium Corporation India Limited, who was on leave on the intervening night of the murder of the deceased. It was further alleged that petitioner destroyed the evidence by abetting the other accused in concealing serious injuries on the body of the deceased and thus he was fully aware of the murder of the deceased. After hearing both the parties the court noted that there are about 300 witnesses and voluminous documents filed in the said case. The petitioner was arrested in March, 2023 and has been in jail since. The sessions case is at the stage of compliance of Section 207 of Code of Criminal Procedure which places an imperative duty on the magistrate to furnish to the accused, free of cost, copies of statements made to the police and of others to be relied upon by the prosecution. Thus, the court observed that there is no likelihood of commencement of trial in the near future. The court reiterated the principle of criminal jurisprudence that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, thus enlarging the accused on bail.

Unsigned GST demand challenged

A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court stayed a demand of GST in exercise of powers under Section 73 of the GST Act. Prashant Automobiles questioned the impugned notice issued on July 3 and also challenged the order of the deputy commissioner of Adilabad assessing the petitioner to tax of over Rs 31 lakh. The petitioner contended that the show cause notice issued to him by the statutory authority was non-est in law since it did not bear the signature of the authorised officer. Counsel Parsa Ananth Nageswar Rao argued that the notice and the final order both suffered from the same infirmity. He would further point out that such action was deprecated by an earlier division bench. The petitioner also faulted the action of the authorities in unilaterally enhancing to its advantage and proceeding to exercise its jurisdiction in furtherance of the same. The panel of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao granted an interim suspension of the said order and granted time to the authorities to respond to the contentions.

Contempt against archaeology department closed

The special panel of the Telangana High Court closed a contempt plea against the commissioner of archaeology department and others. It was alleged that orders of the court were wilfully violated and wantonly disobeyed. The panel comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with a case filed by Gandla Satyanarayana. Earlier, the panel allowed a PIL inter alia seeking a direction to remove the unauthorised construction in a state protected monument situated at Ganapur village, the petitioner sought a direction against the local police to act on the complaint made by the local residents and devotees regarding illegal efforts to raise construction in the subject monument. The panel said, “Department is aware of the fact that a state protected monument must be preserved and protected, and any efforts to alter its status ought to be curbed immediately. There is no good reason for the department to await orders from this court. Immediate steps ought to have been taken to restore the protected monument to its original position and in the event of facing any resistance, adequate assistance ought to have been sought from the local police station.” The petitioner in the contempt alleged that this order was wantonly disobeyed by the respondents. Today, additional advocate general filed an affidavit contending that the order is complied. The panel recording the same closed the contempt proceedings.

Sai devotees challenge action of SC Railway

Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy of the Telangana High Court directed the South Central Railway and its chief administration manager to refrain from undertaking demolition of a temple in Malkajgiri. The judge dealt with a writ plea filed by Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Mandi. The petitioner alleged that the respondent authorities were forcing the founder of the temple to sign consent letters for the proposed demolition of the petitioner temple with an aim to take forcible advance possession. The petitioners further alleged that the respondents were attempting to demolish the temple without initiating any acquisition proceedings or issuing any notice to the petitioner temple. The petitioners stated that the actions of the respondent authorities were arbitrary and in violation of the Constitution. After hearing the parties, the judge allowed the writ plea and directed the respondents to refrain from undertaking any demolishment of the petitioner temple.