Legal Briefs | Telangana HC asks for action on Lake Protection
Hyderabad: The PIL panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Anil Kumar on Tuesday required the state government to give an action-taken report on the maintenance of 16 lakes in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts. The High Court was acting on the report of a two-man committee of G. Praveen Kumar and Srikanth Reddy, advocates of the court, which inspected the 13 lakes and submitted a report qua allegations of illegal constructions, encroachments, and failure on the part of the civic authorities to act. The committee found that lakes were are polluted which not only affected the environment but also posed a severe health hazard arising from the cultivation of vegetables and fish in the contaminated water. The matter was adjourned to April 29.
HC to the aid of Jangaon hawkers
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of Telangana High Court required the TSRTC to take appropriate steps in favour of hawkers and their livelihood. The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by S. Raghu Vamshi and 10 hawkers challenging the action of TSRTC in not allowing them into the bus stand at Jangaon for hawking, by incorporating an anti-hawker clause in its deed with the licencees. The petitioners contend that this was contrary to the fundamental rights. Earlier, after considering the submission, the judge granted the interim order directing TSRTC to permit hawkers into the bus stand at Jangaon including during halt periods of buses for off-board or platform sale/hawking. The petitioners inter alia also sought a direction to TSRTC to extend beneficial provisions of the Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014 and Telangana State Street Vendors Protecting of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Rules, 2020. The judge extending the earlier interim order directed TSRTC to take appropriate steps to protect the rights of the hawkers and their livelihood and accordingly posted the matter to April 13.
HC directs release of photocopy machines and scanning machines
A two-judge bench of Telangana High Court required the customs authority to provisionally release goods belonging to Arka Business Solutions and another. A judge of Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice N. Tukaramji allowed two writ petitions filed by the company challenging a seizure memo. The petitioners in both petitions are traders in the business of importing and sale of printing, photocopying, and scanning machines. As a part of the business, the petitioners import and sell multi-function devices used for printing, photocopying and scanning etc. In the course of trading, the petitioners purchased certain products from their supplier situated in the UAE and Singapore respectively and proceeded to import them. When the product reached its intended place of final delivery, the petitioners filed a bill of entry before the respondent authorities. The respondent authorities did not allow clearance of the consignment. The contention of the CBIC senior standing counsel was that the goods had been imported without any authorization/licence fell under the restricted goods under the foreign trade policy of the government. The petitioners moved an application for provisional release of these goods which was not attended to. They then filed the present writ petition contending that the action on the part of the respondent authorities, firstly, in seizing of the product being in violation of the foreign trade policy itself, and secondly, the goods that have been imported fell under the exemption category. A similar case came before the Madras High Court which accepted the contention of the petitioner so far as the multi-functional devices (MFDs) imported by the petitioner to which stand exempted so far as the applicability of the aforementioned compulsory registration order and had directed the respondent to pass orders for release of the goods provisionally. The bench considered the policy and observed it was evident that what has been held to be restricted under the foreign trade policy was the import of which was permissible against an authorisation subject to the conditions laid down under the relevant Order in 2012. Speaking for the bench, Justice Koshy said what was apparently evident was that in the Order 2012 the product of multi-functional device was not a notified item. Accordingly, the bench imposed certain conditions whereby the petitioners would deposit the enhanced duty amount. The panel left it open for the customs department to go ahead with the proceedings including the adjudication in the manner known to law. The panel also made it clear so far as the condition of the petitioner that demurrage charges till date, for the goods be considered for waiver, in this regard, if any application is filed by the petitioners seeking such a waiver for demurrage charges, the same shall be considered and decided by the respondents objectively.
Examine complaint on terrorist training camps: HC
Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Thursday directed that a fresh complaint be filed before the Nizamabad commissioner of police to restrain alleged terrorist activity spread across South India. It was the case of the petitioner, Mohammed Abdul Khadar Mohiuddin, that the police commissioner had failed to provide police protection from three terrorist gangs at Nizamabad. The petitioner alleged that 700 people had been undergoing training in the Vikarabad forest region carrying weaponry, and spread across the entirety of south India in the form of sleeper cells. It was also the allegation of the petitioner that 10 complaints had been filed by the petitioner earlier with respect to the same and, despite registering FIRs, action was not taken in the matter. A writ plea was therefore filed seeking an investigation and control of the illegal activities of the three terrorist gangs. The court, in view of the same, directed the petitioner to file a fresh complaint before the Nizamabad police commissioner to restrain the terrorist activity and posted the matter to April 4.
