PIL on cabs: Telangana HC directs transport dept to file counter

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tukaramji on Monday directed the Transport Department of Telangana and Union government to file counters in a public interest litigation challenging the action of the State in not adhering to installation of meters in cabs. The panel was […]

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tukaramji on Monday directed the Transport Department of Telangana and Union government to file counters in a public interest litigation challenging the action of the State in not adhering to installation of meters in cabs. The panel was dealing with a PIL filed by Vijay Gopal, a social activist. Deepak Misra, counsel for the petitioner, complained that cabs plying on the roads use GPS for deciding the fares which was illegal. He pointed out to the court that Section 74 (1) (viii) of the Motor Vehicle Act mandates that all motor cabs plying should have a taxi meter installed and be maintained in a proper working order. He also brought to the notice of the court that due to no regulatory mechanism, aggregators were charging surge fees in the name of traffic, rain and so on putting public at large to loss. The panel adjourned the matter by six weeks.

HC dismisses PIL

---

The same panel dismissed a PIL filed by Gopal Krishna Kalanidhi, a practising advocate, challenging the action of State Road Transport Corporation in entrusting the buses to unqualified, inexperienced and unfit drivers during the RTC strike in the 2019. The petitioner contended that the temporary drivers were responsible for road accidents due to their strange habits in driving RTC buses. The panel observed that the strike of RTC employees had come to an end and hence the PIL was infructuous. The panel said no further orders were required in the PIL and dismissed the same.

Report on medical labs

The same panel directed the State Women, Child, Health and Family Welfare authorities to file a comprehensive report on action taken against medical laboratories conducting illegal sex determination tests on foetus. The panel was dealing with a PIL taken up with reference to a newspaper article published in a local daily. The paper complained that illegal tests were being conducted in certain laboratories in the city in connivance of officials and middlemen to determine the sex of foetus. The article went on to point out that there were about 2,000 scanning centres in Greater Hyderabad and most of them were yet to renew their licences. The panel had directed the authorities to file a report. When the submitted report lacked details, the panel directed the authorities to submit a detailed action report and adjourned the matter.

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 .