HC Suspends Simple Imprisonment Order Against Eatery Owner by a Week
Hyderabad: A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court suspended for a week the punishment of simple imprisonment against the franchise owner of an eatery. Earlier a single judge of the court had recorded a finding that the appellant had violated an order of status quo passed in a writ petition filed by him. The single judge allowed a contempt case filed by actor D. Venkatesh, who contended that the contemnor had proceeded with interior works despite a status quo order. The single judge on the basis of a report submitted by the civic authorities found that the contemnors had carried out the works at the place and therefore had violated the orders of the court. By an order dated February 23, the single judge had punished Nandu Kumar, the proprietor of the eatery, for contempt with a sentence of one month of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000. Senior counsel appearing for the contemnor pointed out that the “so-called inspection” that formed the basis of the contempt proceedings was conducted without notice to the petitioner. He pointed out that the report was placed on file by a private party (actor Venkatesh) and not by the civic authorities. He pointed out that in any event it did not satisfy the requirement of photographic evidence as required by a single judge. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Anil Kumar, granted time to the complainant to respond to the appeal and posted the matter to March 28.
Endowments dept asked to respond to eviction at Chikkadpally temple
Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court sought a response from the endowments department pertaining to vacating of premises at the Venkateswara temple in Chikkadpally and handing over the same to the temple. A writ plea has been filed by P. Latha and others, challenging an order passed by the endowments tribunal, which directed the late P. Amrutha to vacate the land and hand over possession to the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple. As per the said order, Amrutha was required to hand over the possession within three months by written intimation or face eviction through police aid. The petitioner contended that the same was illegal and contrary to the provisions of the Telangana Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act. In view of the same, the court sought a response from the endowments department and directed it to file counter. The matter is posted on April 4.
Reconsider power connection: HC
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of the Telangana High Court issued directions to TSSPDCL to reconsider an application submitted by a petitioner for the supply of electricity to an agricultural land. The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Chettukindi Shivraj and another. The petitioner challenged the action of the additional divisional engineer in rejecting the application of the petitioners seeking supply of electricity to their agricultural land in Edulavagu village at Sadashivpet in Sangareddy district. TSSPDCL argued before the court that there was a status quo order pertaining to the subject land and hence no fresh connection was granted. Counsel for the petitioner pointed out that the order of status quo related to non-alienation and TSSPDCL cannot deny electricity supply on that ground. The judge directed the authorities to consider the application submitted by the petitioner afresh and posted the matter after two weeks.
