HYDERABAD: Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy of the Telangana High Court granted time to a Dalit woman, B. Lakshmi, to respond to a police counter-affidavit in a case she had filed against the latter. Lakshmi complained the Dammapeta police of the Bhadradri-Kothagdem district had been harassing her, after not registering an FIR filed by her. The police told the court that the complaint had registered, and the petition may be closed. Lakshmi wanted the case to be kept pending to enable her to file her reply. Petitioner counsel S. Goutham said the Dammapeta sub-inspector had earlier refused to register her complaint of physical and verbal abuse. Instead, police summoned and pressurised her to modify her complaint. The High Court had earlier issued an interim direction not to pressurise the petitioner, Goutham pointed out. After the court stepped in, the police officer registered her case but also registered another FIR against her family members which amounted to pressurising her.
Conditional summons issued to GHMC chief:
Justice Mummineni Sudheer Kumar of the Telangana High Court issued a conditional summons to the GHMC commissioner, dissatisfied at the failure of the corporation to respond in a writ petition where a house property was acquired without payment of compensation. Dr Iqbal M. Oosman, a septuagenarian resident of Mettuguda, Secunderabad, moved to court stating that the GHMC had taken his house for road widening without initiating proceedings under the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. To a query from the court, the GHMC was caught napping. Justice Sudheer Kumar extended time for the GHMC to file its response and said if the counter was not filed by the next date of hearing the commissioner would have to be present in court.
HC: Consider plea in hoarding case:
Justice S. Nanda of the Telangana High Court set aside proceedings of the Principal, Government Polytechnic Warangal of June 2023, and directed the official and the commissioner of technical education to reconsider the representation of the petitioner with regard to hoarding. The petitioner said that he had secured permission in 2013 to erect the hoarding at the northeast corner of the campus at Rs 26 per square foot per annum. The agreement was renewed annually but the authorities had recently directed him to remove the hoarding. The respondents said that renewal of permission was at the discretion of the government institution. They said that under the internal revenue generation (IRG) scheme, they were at liberty to call fresh tenders. The judge said the IRG scheme was in no way related to the work of the petitioner, an artist, who should not be deprived of his livelihood. The judge partly considered the letter of the principal to the technical education commissioner proposing that the petitioner be charged a rent of Rs 100 per square foot.
Right of way for petitioners:
Justice C. Sumalatha of the Telangana High Court directed that access to the property of some petitioners shall be given through the temple land in Girmajipet, Warangal. The judge made the order in a writ petition filed by Dodla Vijaya Kumar, challenging the action of the assistant commissioner, endowments, and executive officer of the Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple in demolishing the compound wall and sheds belonging to the petitioner. The High Court initially granted an order of status quo but modified it and appointed an advocate commissioner in whose presence a survey was to be conducted with regard to the access of the petitioner to his property. The court said that until the survey was concluded the petitioners be provided access to the property.
