Court notices to govt over sand mining in Dindi project
A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji, on Thursday, issued notices to the State government in a PIL filed by an RTI activist, raising concerns over widespread irregularities in sand mining within the Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme.
The case was brought before the bench to address objections raised by the High Court Registry prior to assigning a number to the PIL. Dismissing the objections, the bench instructed the Registry to proceed with numbering the case.RTI activist Srinivas filed the PIL after uncovering the sand mining scam.
He obtained relevant information through an RTI application and discovered serious fraudulent activities, involving the mining agencies Raghava Navayuga (JV) and KCL-SVR (JV). The petitioner alleged that the scam was perpetrated with the cooperation of officials from the Irrigation Department. The bench posted the matter to September 15 for further hearing.
Authorities ordered to hand over minor to biological dad
A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Justice K Lakshman and Justice P Sree Sudha, on Thursday, directed the District Welfare Officer of the Women, Children, Disabled, and Senior Citizen Department to hand over a minor boy, named Syed Abdulla alias Devansh, to the petitioner within a month from receiving a copy of the court’s order.
The bench issued the order after hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Sachin Kumar Yadav, the biological father and natural guardian of the child. The petitioner’s wife had abandoned their 45-day-old son at the Sishu Vihar in Ameerpet, Hyderabad. The background of the case involves a love relationship between a Muslim girl from Hyderabad and a Hindu boy from Punjab. The girl converted to Hinduism, and they got married in Punjab. They lived together, and the girl became pregnant.
However, the girl’s parents brought her to Hyderabad. In 2021, the husband filed a habeas corpus petition before the Supreme Court. Later, the baby boy was born, and the mother surrendered the 45-day-old child to the Child Welfare Committee.
Mittal, Vakati, 2 others fined for contempt by HC
Justice P Madhavi Devi of the Telangana High Court on Thursday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on senior government officials after finding them to be in contempt of court.
Higher Education Department Secretary V Karuna; Commissioner of Collegiate Education Naveen Mittal; Regional Joint Director of Collegiate Education Dr G Yadagiri; and R Swarnalatha, Principal, Government Model Degree College, Kalwakurthy in Nagarkurnool district were directed to pay the fine within four weeks or be subjected to simple imprisonment of one month each.
The contempt case was filed by K Srinivasa Rao, a junior assistant at Government Model Degree College Kalwakurthy, under Sections 10 and 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 after he was not reinstated into service despite a court order.
Counsel for the petitioner argued that the respondent, Mittal, had knowingly violated the court order, instead issuing an order of removal from service. It was only after the contempt case was filed that the respondents reinstated the petitioner and paid a salary for the intervening period, counsel said. The petitioner said the respondents had acted with a predetermined intention to punish him.