Telangana High Court grants relief to Directors of AP Mahesh Bank

A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice V Bhasker Reddy on Friday granted relief

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice V Bhasker Reddy on Friday granted relief to the Directors of AP Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank from simple imprisonment.

The panel was dealing with a batch of contempt appeals filed by 10 directors of the bank. Earlier a single judge had found them guilty in a contempt petition and imposed a punishment of simple imprisonment of 15 days and Rs. 2,000 fine each. Senior counsel S Ravi appearing on behalf of the directors contended that the court had directed the directors from refraining from taking policy decisions and directed them only to attend day-to-day activities. A contempt petition was filed when the directors sanctioned loans of high amounts and transferred surplus revenues into securities.

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A contempt petition was filed questioning the same and a single judge had found them in contempt of court orders. S Ravi pointed out that the directors have only managed the day-to-day affairs of the bank wherein they sanctioned loans and deposited surplus into securities. Considering the same, the panel suspended the order and ordered notice.

Constitute district wakf committees

The same panel ordered that the District Waqf Protection and Coordination Committees must be constituted across Telangana. The panel was dealing with a PIL filed by Syed Farees Ahmed. He sought implementation of a government ordered to constitute District Waqf Protection and Coordination Committees for protection of Waqf land.

Standing counsel for the Telangana State Wakf Board informed the court that 28 district committees have been formed and remaining 5 committees for the remaining districts will be constituted by the end of this month. The matter has been adjourned to October 21 for further hearing.

HC hears case on fixing digital meters in cabs

The same panel directed Commissioner of Transport, Government of Telangana and Legal Metrology Department to explain their stance in detail extra driving hours of drivers and not mandating installation of digital meters in cabs which results in surge pricing. The panel was dealing with a PIL filed by Forum Against Corruption.

Appearing for the petitioner society, counsel Deepak Misra sought a direction seeking wide press releases and broadcasting that cab drivers working for more than 8 hours was illegal. The petitioner also contended that the cabs operating in the city without meters and measures must be taken to fix meters and that the use of GPS for measuring distance travelled by taxi was not permissible under the law. The matter is adjourned to November 17 for further hearing.