A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara, has issued notices to the Telangana government over the constitutional validity of the Telangana SC (Rationalisation of Reservations) Act, 2025.
The court has directed the state, represented by its Secretary to Government (Law) and the Principal Secretary, SC Development department, to file their counter affidavits within six weeks. A rejoinder, if any, may be filed within two weeks thereafter. The matter will be listed thereafter for further hearing.
The directions came in response to a writ petition filed by Kanukuntla Manga, an assistant professor, seeking a declaration that the impugned Act is unconstitutional insofar as it does not provide for the exclusion of the “creamy layer” among SCs for the purpose of reservations.
The petitioner has argued that the failure to include a creamy layer violates Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution and is contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Davinder Singh v. State of Punjab. It was contended that four out of seven judges in the case categorically held that the principle of creamy layer should apply even within the SC and ST categories.
Criminal proceedings against Raja Singh, 20 BJP leaders quashed
In a relief to Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh and 20 other BJP leaders, Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Monday quashed the criminal proceedings against them in CC No.473 of 2023, pending before the 1st Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge at Nampally, Hyderabad.
The case pertains to a dharna staged by BJP leaders in front of the GHMC head office on June 18, 2021 demanding the removal of illegal constructions on city nalas. Besides Raja Singh, several senior BJP leaders, including former MLAs Chinthala Ramchandra Reddy, NVVS Prabhakar, former mayor Banda Karthika Reddy and others took part in the protest. The protestors allegedly attempted to barge into the GHMC office by scaling its main gate, reportedly violating the COVID-19 norms then in force.
Citizenship case: Ramesh pays Rs 25 lakh fine to Adi Srinivas
Former BRS MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh on Monday paid a penalty of `25 lakh to Congress MLA and Government Whip Adi Srinivas in compliance with a Telangana High Court order in a long-standing citizenship case. On November 6, 2024, the high court had ruled that Ramesh is a German citizen and had misled the judiciary for over 15 years by submitting fake documents to obtain Indian citizenship. Justice
B Vijayasen Reddy imposed a total fine of Rs 30 lakh — Rs 25 lakh to be paid to petitioner Adi Srinivas and Rs 5 lakh to the Legal Services Authority. Ramesh submitted the respective demand drafts to both parties on Monday. Speaking to the media, Srinivas said the verdict reaffirmed that truth prevails. He alleged that Ramesh used fraudulent documents to secure Indian citizenship and contest the 2009 elections, defeating him in the process. Srinivas, the current Vemulawada MLA, demanded a public apology from Ramesh for deceiving the people.