HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A Rajashekar Reddy issued notices to Chief Secretary of the Telangana government, Principal Secretary and Commissioner & Director, Social Welfare Department, asking them to furnish details on the delay in the constitution of the Commission for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the State.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Medipally Satyam, who is the TPCC Choppadandi assembly segment incharge, stating that the term of the existing commission ended in February. He claimed that owing to the non-appointment of the commission, the SC and ST communities are facing several problems in voicing their grievances.
Though several acts are in force to safeguard the interest of the SC and ST communities, they are not being implemented by the authorities framed by the Central and State governments to safeguard the interests of the marginalised communities, the PIL stated.
Counsel for the petitioner T Rajnikanth Reddy said the term of the existing commission expired in February. He asked the court to issue a direction to appoint the new commission as mandated under Article 338 of the Indian Constitution.
Responsibilities of the commission
Duties of the body include looking into complaints, probing unfair practices, research and analysis, suggesting legal measures, monitoring working of laws in force relating to SCs and STs, encouraging NGOs sending periodical reports to the government and making recommendations