HYDERABAD: A division bench of the High Court on Tuesday directed the Telangana government to explain as to why it was giving undue weightage and preference to home guards in recruitment of 16,925 stipendiary police constables as per the notification issued on May 31.
It issued notices to the state principal secretary to home and chairman of Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board for filing counter affidavits within three weeks. The bench of acting chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice J Uma Devi passed this order on a PIL filed by one Madiga Mahesh from Medak district challenging the notification issued to fill 16,925 stipendiary police constables posts in various categories on the ground that there were several discrepancies in the notification.
Petitioner’s counsel NS Arjun Kumar said there were a lot of discrepancies in the notification. The maximum age limit for a general category candidate to appear for the examination was 25 years whereas it was 43 years for the home guards working in the state police department and 48 years for SC, ST and BC candidates. Besides, the quota of posts to home guards was enhanced to 25 pc in various categories such as civil, Armed Reserve (AR), Special Protection Force (SPF), Battalion (TSSP), SARCPL, fire and warders and so on, while it was only 8 pc in AP. The preferential treatment being given to home guards in the present recruitment would hamper the chances of the youth of general category to join the department.
HC issues notice to Telangana govt on plea for Urdu Akademi
Hyderabad: A division bench of the High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Telangana government for filing a counter affidavit on a PIL which sought direction to the government to set up Telangana State Urdu Akademi for promotion of Urdu language in the state. The bench of acting chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice J Uma Devi was dealing with a PIL filed by Abdul Kabeer, an advocate of the city, questioning the inaction of the state government in forming Urdu Akademi after bifurcation of the erstwhile AP state.
Petitioner’s counsel Nasir Ahmed Khan told the court that the government recognised the ‘self-styled’ state Urdu academy being run by member-secretary SA Shukoor who was diverting funds without any accountability. Shukoor was also holding the post of chief executive officer of Telangana state Haj committee. The said academy was functioning without a president and vice-president, he noted. Taking these submissions into consideration, the bench asked how the said academy was being run without a governing body and issued notices to state officials.
HC upholds lower court order in drunken driving case
Hyderabad: In a case of drunken driving, the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday upheld the order of the lower court in sentencing a person, who was booked under the drunk and drive case, to 10 days simple imprisonment and to pay a fine of `3,000. “Drunken driving has become a menace for our society. In many cases, it is leading to many casualties. The innocent pedestrians are losing their lives and families are being shattered. The punishment to be awarded to a drunken driver at least should act as a deterrent for others, who are resorting to such type of violations”, the court observed. Justice P Keshava Rao was dismissing a petition filed by D Chandra Sekhar from Secunderabad area.