Legal Briefs | Infra company staff granted anticipatory bail
Hyderabad: Justice K. Sujana of Telangana High Court granted anticipatory bail to two accused in an alleged financial fraud committed by the directors of Pudami Infra Projects. The judge was dealing with a pre-arrest petition filed by Shaga Shyamsunder Reddy and Koyyada Lingaswamy. A complaint was filed alleging that the directors ahd established a company that promised unusually high returns on investments. They allegedly approached the complainant and induced him to invest in their company by promising to return double the amount deposited and registering a plot as security. The complainant, believing their promises, became the deputy general manager (DGM) and was responsible for bringing in customers. He, along with 16 other DGMs and 150 marketing staff, collected a total of Rs 36 crore from customers. The company, through its Vanasthalipuram branch, collected Rs 7.09 crore from the complainant's customers alone. However, the company paid only part of the amount back to customers and registered plots, leaving an outstanding due of around Rs 22.37 crore. Despite repeated requests from the complainant and other DGMs, the directors failed to return the remaining amount to the customers. On receipt of the complaint, the police registered cases against the petitioners and arrayed them as Accused No. 12 and 14. At this, the petitioners filed a criminal petition. The petitioners contended that they were initially customers and were later employed as DGMs to mobilise customers. Counsel for the petitioners also argued that the petitioners were not involved in the financial matters of the company and did not intentionally induce customers to deposit money. As a matter of fact, the petitioners were also victimised by the directors and had lodged a complaint against them. The additional public prosecutor opposed the submissions made by counsel for the petitioners, stating that the amounts involved in this case were huge and many customers were being cheated. The judge noted that as per the complaint, the primary and specific set of allegations were against the petitioners themselves were initially customers.
HYDRA will deal with Meerpet Cheruvu encroachment: TG to HC
A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday disposed a PIL alleging illegal encroachments in the full tank level of of Pedda Cheruvu at Meerpet, Balapur. The panel comprising acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara was dealing with a PIL filed by Akula Padma Padmamma.
The petitioner complained the state had failed to remove illegal land encroachments falling in FTL and buffer zone in Sy No. 46 part and 61 shikam of Meerpet. The petitioner sought to restore the FTL land by clearing its inflow and outflow nalas and to constitute a committee for development of Pedda Cheruvu. Counsel for the state contended that the grievance of the petitioner stood addressed as HYDRAA came into existence to take care of such encroachments.
Relief for advocate in dispute
Justice B. Vijaysen directed the police not to interfere with the personal liberty of an advocate in connection with a crime registered at the Sircilla police station. The judge was dealing with a plea filed by Avunoori Ramakanth Rao, senior member of the Sircilla Bar Association, alleging that he was being harassed and wrongfully implicated by the police at the behest of a private respondent. Counsel for the petitioner, E. Venkata Siddhartha, contended that the matter originated as a civil dispute, which remained sub judice in various courts since 2019. The police allegedly escalated the civil dispute into a criminal case in an attempt to pressure the petitioner and his clients into settling the ongoing dispute. The judge directed the inspector not to interfere with the petitioner’s personal liberty under the guise of investigation, without following the due process of law. The court also highlighted the importance of protecting the professional and personal liberty of advocates and ensuring that police do not overreach their authority.