Plea in Telangana HC asks for SIT probe into Gandipet land

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court gave its approval to move no-confidence motions against the presidents and vice-presidents of mandal praja parishads (MPPs). Justice Kaja Sharat dismissed a batch of petitions filed by MPP presidents and vice presidents challenging the notices for no-confidence motions.

The petitioners had questioned the revenue divisional officers (RDO) issuing Form V notices for the no-trust vote, saying that they were not the prescribed authority as per Section 263 of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018.

They said that no new rules had been notified following the enactment of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018. Therefore, Form V issued by the RDO as per GO Ms No. 200, panchayat raj and rural development department, dated 28.04.1998, could be enforced.

They said that Section 263 of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 specifically provided for the prescription of procedure by way of notifying the rules, such rules must necessarily be passed only by way of legislative mandate.

The court pointed out that on the one hand, the petitioners were contending that the authorities could initiate a no-confidence motion based on the old rules while on the other hand insisting that the authorities have to follow the procedure as per old rules.

This, Justice Sharat observed, showed that the petitioners wanted to evade the no-confidence motion on technical grounds.