Delay in filing writ costs aspirant medical seat
A bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice NV Shravan Kumar, on Thursday, refused to grant relief to a medical seat aspirant for filing a writ petition after a gap of 29 days against his classification as a non-local candidate.
Ravidar Nagapuri, an MBBS/BDS aspirant from Kothapalle village of Gambhiraopet mandal in Rajanna-Sircilla district, filed the writ petition seeking the same relief granted to other petitioners in a batch of similar cases challenging the validity of Rule 3(III)(B) of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Rules, 2017. In a previous decision, the court had already read down this rule in favour of permanent residents of Telangana, but this relief was limited to the original petitioners.
During the hearing, counsel for Swaraj argued that the aspirant should be treated as a local candidate. On the other hand, standing counsel for the university (KNRUHS) contended that Swaraj’s late approach to the court was problematic, given the time-sensitive nature of MBBS/BDS course admissions and the completion of two rounds of counselling.
Agreeing with this, the court noted that the petitioner had been classified as a non-local candidate on August 2, 2023, but did not take any action to challenge this until August 31, 2023. This delay in asserting his rights was deemed inexcusable, particularly given the context of educational admissions.
The bench said that if the court were to entertain the writ petition, it would disrupt the ongoing admission process for the MBBS course. Given the petitioner’s inaction, the court decided not to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 and declined relief that had been awarded to other petitioners who had approached the court in a timely manner.
SI gets 3 months jail for disobeying court orders
Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Thursday sentenced Dachepally Vijay Kumar, sub-inspector of Kattangur to three months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000 while giving a stern warning to Raghava Rao, circle inspector of Shaligouraram police station in Nakrekal of Nalgonda district, in a contempt of court case.
The sentence must be carried out within four weeks, Justice Lakshman said. He was hearing a contempt case filed by Dasari Yadagiri and another, alleging willful disobedience and deliberate violation of an interim order issued by the court. The petitioners had previously filed a writ petition against the respondents, accusing the officers of interfering with their agricultural activities and peaceful possession of a 2.12-acre agricultural plot in Eduluru village of Katangur mandal in Nalgonda district.
According to counsel for the petitioners, his clients provided a copy of the court order dated July 5, 2021, to the respondents when they visited the Kattangur police station to enquire about the status of the FIR lodged against Nagulupati Ramulu and his wife on May 25, 2022. To their surprise, the SI told them to have the land surveyed before entering it and warned them of serious consequences, counsel told the court. The petitioners believed that the SI colluded with Ramulu to disrupt their agricultural operations and peaceful possession of the land.
Upon careful examination of the case’s facts, the High Court concluded that Vijay Kumar had willfully disobeyed and deliberately violated the interim order of the court. Consequently, he was sentenced to three months in jail and fined Rs 2,000 while Circle Inspector Raghava Rao, stationed at Shaligouraram Circle, received a strong warning from the court.