Plea against merger of villages with municipalities
Justice T Vinod Kumar of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday heard a writ petition filed by former sarpanchs of five villages in Shamshabad mandal — Chinna Golkonda, Pedda Golkonda, Hameedullahnagar, Bahadurguda, and Rasheedguda — challenging the government’s decision to merge the villages with nearby municipal corporations. The petitioners, represented by senior counsel V Raghunath, argued that the government’s memo proposing the merger is illegal and violates the principles of natural justice. The petitioners contended that the villagers, who primarily depend on agriculture, stand to lose significant benefits provided under both state and Union government schemes if the merger happens.
One of the key concerns raised was the potential loss of the employment guarantee scheme, a welfare initiative that provides employment opportunities to agricultural labourers in the villages. According to the petitioners, such a scheme is not available in municipal areas, which would disadvantage the villagers. Raghunath further argued that the proposal for the merger was based on a representation from an unknown individual who does not belong to these villages. He claimed that the proposal was made without proper consultation or notification to the affected gram panchayats, and that the villagers were not taken into confidence before the proposal was put forward.
Women’s panel notice to astrologer stayed
Justice Surepalli Nanda of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday granted relief to astrologer Venu Swamy by staying the notices issued to him by the Telangana State Commission for Women. The stay was granted in response to a plea filed by Swamy, challenging the legality of the summons issued under Section 14(1)(a) of the Telangana State Women’s Commission Act, 1988.
Swamy’s petition argued that the Commission acted without jurisdiction or authority under the Act in relation to a complaint submitted by the Telugu Film Journalist Association. The petitioner alleged that the association president and other office-bearers harboured personal grudge and jealousy against him, leading them to falsely accuse him of maligning celebrities and politicians through baseless and irrational predictions. According to the petition, these allegations were made out of spite and were aimed at damaging Swamy’s reputation. The complaint submitted to the Women’s Commission accused Swamy of using social media to make derogatory and demeaning predictions about celebrities, particularly women.
Bandi in court for remarks on BRS
Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday appeared before the Special Court for Legislators here. A case was filed against him for calling BRS leaders extortionists and describing them as ‘Dandupalyam mutha’ at an election meeting in Nalgonda district during Munugode Assembly bypoll in October, 2022. Sanjay, the then state BJP president, alleged that BRS leaders were distributing Rs 40,000 per vote in the bypoll.