SC Criticizes Telugu States District Courts

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court was shocked with the conduct of judicial and administration proceedings in the district judiciary of the Telugu states, where judicial officers issued orders on a Sunday in the face of an apex court stay.

The apex court expressed apprehensions over the aptitude of the presiding officers of the district courts in the two states, who could not understand the true purport of Supreme Court interim orders of stay in divorce petitions and proceeded from transferring the petition to issuing final orders of ex-parte divorce orders on a holiday.

Justice Sandeep Mehta of the Supreme Court directed the Registrars-General of the Telangana High Court as well as Andhra Pradesh High Court to place the incident before the Chief Justices of the respective High Courts.

The judge was dealing with a petition filed by Kalabarigi Pratyusha, who requested the apex court to transfer the divorce petition filed by her husband Panuganti Srinivasa Rao from the family court of Rangareddy district to Srikakulam, in which jurisdiction she stays.

The apex court on April 28, 2023, issued stay orders in the divorce petition pending before the family court of Rangareddy district and ordered summons for Srinivas Rao. Even when the Supreme Court stay was in vogue, the divorce petition filed by the husband was transferred to the Srikakulam district family court.

After re-numbering the petition, the Srikakulam court went ahead with the hearing and issued an ex-parte decree dated March 10, 2024, a Sunday, dissolving the marriage.

This issue was brought to the notice of the court on November 26 by the petitioner’s counsel Ravi Shankar Jandhyala. He placed before the court that the letters sent by the Rangareddy district family court to the Supreme court on July 18 and October 12, 2023, which indicated that the proceedings had been transferred to the Srikakulam court.

These communications were not placed before the Supreme Court by the staff of the apex court, until Jandhyala brought it to notice. Hence, Justice Mehta expressed doubts on the staff and cautioned them to take care or face consequences.

Justice Mehta was surprised with the orders of the Srikakulam court and observed that there was a serious question on how the order dated of March 10 came to be passed as it was a Sunday.

The court noted that the grave prejudice has been caused to the wife for no fault of hers, owing to the indifference and lackadaisical approach at different levels.

Justice Mehta said the petitioner could not be left remediless and made to suffer on account of the manifest errors on part of the Supreme Court registry and the lackadaisical approach of the presiding officers concerned. The court stayed the effect and operation of the judgment and decree dated March 10 passed by the Judge of the Family Court-cum-III Additional District & Sessions Court, Srikakulam.