Bhadrachalam GP polls: Telangana High Court directs State govt to file counter

Hyderabad: A two-judge Bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Verma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shaveli directed the government to submit its response in a matter related to conducting elections to Bhadrachalam Gram Panchayat. The court also told the Government Pleader that in event of not filing the counter, the Principal Secretary, Revenue should appear before it.

The Bench was dealing with a PIL filed by one Sonde Veeraiah, a tribal activist alleging failure on part of the government in conducting elections to the Bhadrachalam Grama Panchayat. Counsel for the petitioner, Vasuda Nagaraj argued that the elections were not conducted since 2018 and the State has not filed a counter in this regard. The standing counsel appearing for the State Election Commission said that they have addressed a letter to the government seeking clarification if the said constituency falls under gram panchayat or municipality. It further said that they have not received any reply from the government. The Bench adjourned the case by four weeks granting time to the government to respond.

Transfer of cases
The Bench directed the State to file an additional status report in a matter related to seeking transfer of cases related to bogus companies, which obtained loans from banks by fabricating documents around Medchal, Shadnagar and Ranga Reddy districts. The Bench was dealing with a PIL filed by one M Raghunandan Rao seeking direction to transfer the investigation to CBI. The petitioner also sought the investigation to be monitored by the High Court. The Advocate General appearing for State reported that 24 persons were already arrayed as accused and a charge sheet along with supplementary charge sheet was also filed before the concerned trial court. The bench adjourned the matter to four weeks.

Safety of workers
The Bench directed the Central government to file a reply in a matter pertaining to the failure of the union government in ensuring the safety of workers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh migrating to Gulf countries. The Bench was dealing with a PIL filed by one G Sridhar seeking directions to place a mechanism to repatriate bodies of migrant workers who died in Gulf countries. Deepak Mishra, counsel appearing for the petitioners argued that the families of the workers have been waiting to receive the bodies of migrant workers from two the Telugu States and that there is no mechanism in place to ensure the safety of migrant workers who migrate to the Gulf countries. The Bench adjourned the matter by four weeks for the Central government’s response.

Dismisses writ plea
The Bench dismissed a writ petition filed by plot owners of Nanakramguda village in Rangareddy district. The petitioners claimed that the process of land acquisition was fraudulent and demanded their plots be returned to the respective owners. The writ petition was filed by Harish Kolpuru and others landowners of different plots situated in Nananakramguda village seeking direction to return their lands as the acquisition process was not completed even after 15 years. The government has acquired the lands for the development of EMAAR Hills Township Pvt Ltd. The court did not accept the contention of the petitioners that the lands be returned to them since the EMAAR land deal was mired with controversies.

---

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.

Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .

---