Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court directed the GHMC to file a compliance report mentioning the remedial steps it had taken after a girl child fell into an open manhole and died in Kalasiguda earlier this year. The bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Anil Kumar Jukanti was dealing with a letter addressed to the court that was taken up as a PIL. The PIL said the deaths of Mounika and another child, Vivek, were due to the negligence of the GHMC. The petitioner said that the recent heavy rainfall in the city had unleashed a torrent of destruction, leaving in its wake a trail of devastation that left many in despair and the city’s drainage system succumbed under the pressure of the deluge. The GHMC was forced to open a canal cover in Kalasiguda to allow the flood water to pass through. In a frantic rush to deal with the unfolding crisis, the GHMC staff neglected to put up a warning sign and nine-year-old Mounika fell into the open manhole and was swept away by the raging flood waters. Parents and onlookers were helpless. Six-year-old Vivek accidentally fell into a pit in Jubilee Hills while playing and drowned. On Tuesday, when GHMC counsel sought an adjournment to file a counter, the bench directed the corporation to take remedial action in response to the incident and said there was no need to file a counter. The bench questioned counsel whether, in their counter, the GHMC intended to deny that the girl had in fact not died.
Ex-AG gets interest on fee dues
Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy of the Telangana High Court directed the state government to pay the interest component of fees due to the former advocate-general K. Ramakrishna Reddy. The former AG took off his bands to argue as a party in person before the court, complaining that the Hyderabad Metro Rail and the state government wer sitting over his revised bills of over Rs 3 crore for over six years. He complained that the revised bills raised in July 2017 were not acted upon, compelling him to invoke the writ jurisdiction of the High Court. After the filing of the petition, he said, the fee component was paid but the interest component was withheld. Justice Bhaskar Reddy pointed out that the Metro Rail had acquiesced to the former advocate-general saving about Rs 100 crore and wondered how the government was not releasing the interest on the fee. Justice Bhaskar Reddy directed the government to pay the interest within a period of three months at the rate of 12 per cent from the date of the bills.
HC reserves verdict on property tax
Justice T. Vinod Kumar of the Telangana High Court heard a batch of writ pleas on the question of whether or not the imposition and collection of property tax was connected to issuance of an occupancy certificate, and reserved his verdict in the matter. Venkat Reddy Nandyala and another were before the court challenging the demand of property tax of approximately Rs 3 lakh. The property tax was assessed from the date of registration of the office property. The petitioner contended that such levy should be from the date of issue of the occupancy certificate, it should not date back to the date of the sale deed. Thinking aloud, Justice Vinod Kumar wondered about the fate of operational buildings that do not have occupancy certificates. He reasoned that the tax is levied to provide better services and there is no statutory connect between the levy and the issuance or non-issuance of occupancy certificates.
Medical Council poll under HC scanner
Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court directed the returning officer for the recent TS Medical Council (TSMC) elections to adhere to the law while counting the polled votes. The judge was dealing with a writ plea filed by T. Narasinga Reddy complaining about the counting of postal ballots. The petitioner alleged that the returning officer had failed to verify the signatures of voters, as mandated by the Telangana Medical Council Conduct of Election Rules, 1978. He alleged that the returning officer, through an impugned letter, had mentioned the non-availability of signature verification data and ruled out its possibility for the 2023 elections. The petitioner contended that TSMC was the custodian of the database and must make the signatures available for verification. An application was filed for impleadment stating inter alia that the election was conducted following a Supreme Court order. With 10,000 out of 17,000 votes counted, the judge sought clarification on the basis for scrutinising the votes. Justice Shravan Kumar directed the government pleader to file a counter within two weeks and said that the remaining 7,000 votes should be counted.
