Nirmal Collector ordered to fence off Kotha Cheruvu
A bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji on Friday ordered the Nirmal district Collector to fence the entire Full Tank Level (FTL) of Kotha Cheruvu in the town and make sure that there is no encroachment of the water body. The Collector was also told to put off any work on the road lying within the FTL of the Kotha Cheruvu till the next date of hearing and adjourned the plea to March 17, 2023.
The court also served notices to the Chief Secretary, senior secretaries of the Revenue department, Irrigation and Command Development, Chief Engineer, TS Minor Irrigation, the Nirmal Collector and others.
The bench brushed aside the Special Government Pleader’s contention that the Collector has sanctioned Rs 2.58 lakh for the purpose of fencing the FTL area of the Kotha Cheruvu and a road that has been in existence for the last 40 years is being widened for public utility, and a request to adjourn hearing of the PIL to Monday to obtain instructions from the State government.
Suryakaran Reddy, senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, informed the court that the laying of the road within the FTL was a clear violation of the court’s order in a PIL. The court had earlier directed the Nirmal Collector to remove the lateritic soil / clay / morrum that had been dumped on the tank bed and FTL limits of Kotha Cheruvu and fence the area.
HC halts proceedings on MP in KCR video case
Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday halted all further proceedings on the file of Special JFCM, Hyderabad for the offences registered against BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind, for portraying Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in poor light by showing the CM holding a liquor bottle in his hands instead of a conch (Shanknath).
Arvind had shared a cartoon on his Facebook account, morphing a video initially produced by cartoonist Mrutyunjay, which portrayed KCR clutching a liquor bottle instead of a Shankanth (conch). After the Telangana Excise Department issued a notification dated December 28, 2021, granting permission for the sale of liquor up to 1 am on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1, 2022, and further permitted the A4 Licenses (retail shops) to stay open up to midnight on the eve of New Year.
As the video went viral on social media, TRS social media convener Y Satish Reddy filed a complaint with the Banjara Hills police, and an FIR was filed against Arvind.Rachna Reddy, senior counsel appearing for Arvind, informed the court that the Sections inserted in the FIR — 504, 505(2), 153A IPC, and 67 IT Act, were not relevant to the offence alleged in the complaint because the video does not promote enmity between two groups, no abusive language was used in the Facebook post, no provocative speeches were made, and no obscenity was made out in the video. As a result, senior counsel asked the court to stay the proceedings in the FIR.
No nod for RSS rally in sensitive Bhainsa town
Judge B Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Friday refused to authorise the SHO and SDPO, Bhainsa, to grant permission to RSS Sanghchalak, Bhainsa, Sadula Krishna Das, to take out route march and “Sharirik Pradarshan” with 1,000 RSS cadre on February 19, 2023.
Justice Reddy questioned the petitioner at the onset of arguments in the writ petition that was moved as a lunch motion, as to why he intends to hold the route march as well as the Sharirik Pradarshan in Bhainsa town only, despite the fact that Bhainsa is a communally sensitive area, and whether the programme can be held outside the town.
Suryakaran Reddy, senior counsel for the petitioner, informed the court that the RSS conducts the two programmes across the country every two years in a peaceful manner, with no room for adverse occurrences.
Government Pleader Samala Ravinder argued that as Bhainsa is a communally sensitive area, and based on previous incidents, it is not advisable to grant permission to the petitioner to hold the Route March and Sharirik Pradarshan. The GP also informed the court that “Shab-e-Baraat”, a night considered holy by the Muslim community, also falls on February 19.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Reddy asked the GP to obtain written instructions on whether it is advisable to grant permission to organise the route march and Sharirik Pradarshan and adjourned the matter to February 20.
CBI charges on Sabitha an afterthought, HC told
A bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji on Friday heard a plea filed by Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy challenging the decision of the CBI Court to reject her discharge petition.
Sabitha, who was the minister for mines in undivided Andhra Pradesh, is accused of facilitating business tycoon G Janardhan Reddy and his Obulapuram Mining Company to smuggle iron ore across the AP-Karnataka border .
E Uma Maheswara Rao, appearing for Sabitha, told the court that the CBI had charged her without providing any supporting paperwork. The CBI did not name her as an accused in the first and second supplementary chargesheets, but she was listed as an accused in the third, he said.
Maheswara Rao told the bench that a court had earlier rejected charges against another defendant in the case Y Srilaxmi, who was the former principal secretary for the department of mines and geology in undivided AP. Senior counsel also cited a number of Supreme Court decisions before the bench to support his arguments.