Telangana HC stays govt circular on RTI

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A Rajasekhar Reddy on Monday stayed a circular issued by the Government of Telangana directing officials to secure approval of heads of departments or secretaries before furnishing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. The panel […]

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A Rajasekhar Reddy on Monday stayed a circular issued by the Government of Telangana directing officials to secure approval of heads of departments or secretaries before furnishing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. The panel was dealing with a PIL challenging the official order in this regard. Other than the necessary procedure given to State PIOs, appellate authority and the State Information Commissioner under the RTI, the Chief Secretary had no such jurisdiction to create a new non-statutory authority/procedure.

Weapon licence
Justice B Vijaysen Reddy directed the Commissioner of Police to renew the weapon licence on a writ petition filed by Sitaram Panwar. The petitioner requested the court to either transfer the licence in the name of Dayaram Panwar, his son, or renew the same in his name. The petitioner contended that possessing the arms licence was his right to life and the orders issued by the Commissioner of Police were illegal and arbitrary. The matter has been adjourned to November 8 for further hearing.