TS govt granted ‘two weeks’ time to notify appointments to CWC
The panel also left it open to the petitioner, Prajwala, to approach the court if a compliance report was not filed within four weeks
Published Date - 29 January 2021, 12:14 AM
Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court on Thursday granted two weeks’ time to the State government to notify appointments to the Child Welfare Committee in the State. The panel also left it open to the petitioner, Prajwala, to approach the court if a compliance report was not filed within four weeks. It further clubbed cases with a common thread and permitted all parties to assist the court in the lead matters. The panel, comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, was hearing a batch of PILs relating to girls rescued from prostitution and child labour. The writ pleas relating to the rescue of 34 girl children from Yadadri was among the petitions closed. The court again voiced unhappiness at the speed with which the State government was responding or carrying out its statutory function.
The Chief Justice voiced concern for children where she said the children were naturally disabled to approach the court and hence required its protection. The panel heard senior counsel L Ravichander and referred to the report submitted by the committee he headed. The Chief Justice pointed to a similar scenario in Delhi and the need for a direction for installation and use of a facial recognition technology tool. The Advocate General informed the court that the Telangana government, in fact, has a software called DARPAN addressing the same. The panel directed the petitioner to implead the Central government to assist in inter-State correspondence in the case. The panel will hear the matter on April 15.
Commercial buildings
The same panel refused to entertain a batch of writ petitions pertaining to sanction of municipal permission for construction of commercial buildings following a direction of the National Green Tribunal. The respective counsels submitted that if the orders of the National Green Tribunal were followed in letter and spirit, it would have been a different scenario and concluded that there was an imminent threat of closure. The panel observed that it was not within the court’s domain to interpret another authority’s order and the High Court of Telangana was not the appellate authority of the National Green Tribunal. The panel further stated that the amount to be deposited is meagre for APL Health Care Limited and the court sees no merits. The petitioners were directed to approach the Principal Bench of New Delhi for filing an appeal against the orders of the National Green Tribunal.
Canal excavation
The said panel stopped the construction of a 250 feet canal excavation being carried out by the State government within 10 metres from the Pedda Churuvu of Cheriyal town since it was not authorised or approved. The Government Pleader stated that the sanction was granted through a Government Order and by the Irrigation Minister through a resolution passed by the municipality. The panel ordered the government to fill up the canal and restore it to its previous status. The panel directed the authorities to file a counter while giving a report on waterlogging simultaneously. The matter was adjourned to April 29.
Funds for disabled
The panel pointed out that public interest litigation matters cannot be monitored at a micro level. In a PIL pertaining to Comprehensive Disability Inclusive Guidelines issued by the Centre, it was noticed that persons with disabilities were the most vulnerable during the lockdown. The counsel for the petitioner stated that during the previous hearings, the court recorded the funds available with the department for using it for the welfare and benefit of the people. However, Director of Public Health and Family Welfare could not provide the amounts disbursed and it was Rs 2-3 crore which was known. The panel directed the Commissioner to file a counter dealing with the issues in the orders within 6 weeks. The matter was adjourned to August 18.
Contempt case
Justice Challa Kondanda Ram ordered the presence of S Visweshwar Reddy, president, Appeal Avenue Welfare Colony Association before the court on February 26. The judge was dealing with a contempt case filed by Ballampalli Padmaja who alleged that the respondents violated the orders of the court made in June 2020. Earlier, the court directed the parties to maintain status quo in all aspects with regard to the construction of a temple being done without permission and in the same order, it also directed the registry to initiate suo moto contempt against the Municipal Commissioner who failed to stop the construction even after reporting to the court that no permission was granted. Counsel for the municipality, N Praveen Kumar, pointed out that they had attempted to demolish the illegal construction but due to law-and-order problem, they could not carry out the demolition. He further complained that the police department failed to provide necessary protection. The judge recorded the report submitted by the Principal District Judge, Ranga Reddy, which stated that the co-contemnor failed to receive the notice which was to be served upon and it was returned as refused. The judge posted the case to February 26.
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