Hyderabad: Former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao have filed separate writ petitions in the Telangana High Court, seeking a direction to the state government to not act upon, or give effect to, the report submitted by the Justice P.C. Ghose commission of inquiry on the Kaleshwaram scheme.They contended that the commission was appointed by the Congress government with a malafide intention. The Chief Secretary, irrigation secretary, the commission of inquiry headed by Justice Ghose were made respondents in both the writ petitions.Chandrashekar Rao questioned the scope and authority of the Chief Secretary to issue the GO granting judicial powers to an inquiry commission and thereby conferring upon it the jurisdiction to ‘fix responsibilities’ for alleged lapses. In a purported exercise of these illegal powers, the commission has fixed responsibility upon numerous individuals including himself and has sought recovery of funds paid to executing agencies, Chandrashekar Rao mentioned in the petition.The petitioners contended that the report made prejudicial, illegal, high-handed, scurrilous, defamatory and scathing observations and findings against them.Directly accusing Justice Ghose, Chandrashekar Rao alleged mala fide in summoning him as a witness while later producing a report that made scathing remarks on his tenure. He said this was done deliberately without issuing a Section 8-B notice, which was mandatory when a person’s reputation was at stake.The commission misled him, Chandrashekar Rao contended, and denied him an opportunity to defend himself. He charged the authorities with maligning his image by conducting PowerPoint presentations in the media using the commission report and subjected him to a media trial.The petitioners also alleged that the government had been publicising the report repeatedly without furnishing them a copy. They cited Supreme Court rulings, including ‘State of Bihar vs Lal Kishan Advani (2003)’, to contend that commission reports were recommendatory in nature and that several such reports had been set aside by High Courts across the country.The petitioners complained against the press conference conducted by the Chief Minister and other ministers. They said that the media houses had launched a “most vicious, blatant, malicious, scurrilous and sustained attack” on them to damage the reputation of Chandrashekar Rao and prejudicially affect his standing.The petition contended that the authorities and their political bosses had launched the media attack only in order to gain an undue advantage in the forthcoming local body elections and to malign and lower the reputation and public character of Chandrashekar Rao.HC pulls up taxmen for procedural lapsesHyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday pulled up state tax authorities for repeated procedural lapses, holding them responsible for forcing taxpayers to seek judicial intervention. The court expressed strong displeasure at the department’s inefficiency, calling it a case of “official misconduct.”A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M Mohiuddin was hearing a petition filed by Sri Venkateshwara Dairy Products, which challenged multiple tax notices issued for the same financial year — 2018-19 — under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax (TGST) Act. The court observed that state officers still lacked clarity on its implementation.Draft Policy to Resolve FTL Disputes: HCHyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday underscored the urgent need for a comprehensive government policy to address long-standing disputes involving full tank level (FTL), buffer zones, and natural drainage channels (nalas).Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy, hearing a batch of related petitions, expressed strong disapproval over the prolonged inaction by authorities, questioning the continued delay in resolving such matters. “How long will officials drag on these cases and waste the court’s time,” the judge asked, pointing to administrative inaction that has left key land ownership issues unresolved for decades.The court highlighted a glaring contradiction: while the revenue department continued to issue pattadar passbooks, the irrigation department simultaneously claimed that the same land fell under the FTL, buffer zone, or drainage channels. “Even after decades, the actual facts have not been determined,” Justice Reddy observed. “If the land is part of a water flow channel, how were passbooks issued?”The observations came during a hearing on a petition filed by Palle Narasimha Reddy of Kacheguda, challenging an order by the deputy executive engineer of the irrigation department allowing the demolition of a compound wall in Jawaharnagar. The demolition was intended to facilitate the flow of drainage and sewage water, which Reddy claimed would damage his land.While refusing to grant interim relief, the court directed the respondents to file a counter-affidavit and adjourned the matter to September 9. Justice Reddy noted that local residents were demanding removal of the wall to prevent waterlogging, and advised the petitioner to submit a fresh representation to the relevant authorities.HC Tells State to Pay for Acquisition in ’75Hyderabad: Faulting the state government for failing to pay compensation to a land parcel acquired belonging to a temple in 1975, Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court directed the state government to complete acquisition proceedings and pay compensation within four months.The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by the Sri Balaji Venkateswara Swamy Vari Devasthanam at Annapureddipalli, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, represented by its executive officer Pakala Venata Ramana, seeking compensation for 60 acres of land in Survey No. 39 at Annadaivam, which had been taken over for the construction of a 60-feet-wide road from Annapureddipalli to Chaparalapalli as far back as in 1975. Even after several representations since 1980, no compensation has been paid.In 1984, the roads and buildings (R&B) department wrote to the temple stating that the road had been taken into its fold from the zilla parishad authorities and that compensation was the responsibility of the Z.P.Government counsel for the endowment department Bhukya Mangilal Naik argued that the issue was pending for 50 years and despite earlier directions of the High Court for fresh acquisition proceedings under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, no steps were taken. Even a fresh representation made by the temple in December 2022 went unheeded.The government sought four months to complete the land acquisition process. Recording the submissions, Justice Shravan Kumar observed that the authorities were bound by earlier court orders and warned that non-compliance would invite civil contempt.Accordingly, the court directed the principal secretary and the chief engineer of the R&B department, the Khammam district collector, and other authorities concerned to complete the acquisition process and pay compensation to the temple without further delay.
Source link
