HYDERABAD: A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court closed a PIL complaining of demand for illegal gratification by officials of the Revenue Department. The bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice NV Shravan Kumar is dealing with a letter addressed to the court in 2022 by practicing advocate Rapollu Bhasker. The complaint is that there were multiple wrong entries on the Dharani Website at its inception and when the farmers sought corrections, they were demanding illegal gratification. Government Pleader, Srikanth Reddy pointed out to the various steps being taken by the government in this regard. The bench recorded the various steps taken by the government in this regard and observed that in view of the steps taken nothing survives in the writ petition. It is complained that the entries of the Patta lands of the innocent farmers at Narayapuram Village at Mahbubabad District was wrongly entered as forest land. In a 50-page detailed counter affidavit, the concerned Tahsildar, CH Naresh presented a chart of all the survey numbers, He would point out that out of an extent of 1420 Acres, 160 Acres were covered by government organizations. The net area left was about 1200 odd acres. He would point out that a new module was created in the Dharani Portal to address the issue and for grant of Patta passbooks to eligible persons. The government pleader pointed out from the records that the corrections have been made and private lands have been excluded. The bench accordingly closed the PIL.
Reporters case under HC radar
Justice Anupama Chakravarthy of Telangana High Court on Wednesday ordered notice in a case of murder, unlawful assembly and other criminal offenses under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Attrocities) Act 1989. The case of the prosecution is that the deceased Chandraiah used to earn his living by begging, by dressing up like a woman. A piece of false news was propagated through social media that anti-social elements from Bihar and other states have entered the state of Telangana to kidnap children. The deceased was mistaken to be part of this group and was attacked by a mob of 200 people. He succumbed to the injuries later. The present quash petition is filed by Syed Salim who is a reporter and social activist on the allegation that he spread the false news and was responsible for the murder. The counsel for the petitioner argued that the petitioner is only a journalist and reports about the crime happened around Hyderabad city in Page Manager Application. He further argued that the constitution of India also grants liberty of thought and expression. The public prosecutor argued that the case is of a serious nature and an application to quash the same cannot be entertained at admission stage. The Court ordered notice and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
