Clear fish seed dues in 4 weeks or finance Secy must appear: Telangana HC to govt

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday expressed strong displeasure over the state government’s delays in clearing payments to fish seed suppliers and fixed a four-week deadline for payment of dues. While hearing the contempt petitions filed by the suppliers, Justice T. Madhavi Devi observed that several cases had come to the notice of the court in which payments remained pending even long after the tokens were issued.

“You gave tokens after filing the contempt petitions and now you are asking for more time for the budget to be announced… This may take many more years,” the court said.

The government advisor requested eight weeks, stating that tokenization of the bill would take four weeks and payments another four weeks. The judge rejected the request, stating that the seeds were provided about three years ago and that the opportunity was given many times.

The court ordered the authorities to complete the payments within four weeks and submit a compliance report by March 6, warning that if the payments are not made, the chief secretary, the finance department will have to appear in court and make a statement.

Did iBomma Seize Ravi’s Passport? HC Directs Police to Make Statement

The Telangana High Court directed the prosecutor to take directions from the investigating officer, currently in Delhi, regarding the passport of Immadi Ravi alias iBomma Ravi, accused of large-scale film piracy, and posted the matter for hearing on February 9.

Senior advocate Muzaffar Ali Khan, appearing for Ravi, sought bail, arguing that the investigation was complete and police custody had already been imposed. Arguing against the claim, prosecutor Palle Nageshwar Rao argued that the alleged hacking caused losses running into thousands of crores and claimed that the accused had sophisticated overseas infrastructure and an Irish passport.

He stated that Ravi could leave the country if released on bail. Ravi’s lawyer argued that the police’s seizure of the passport misled the court. Thereupon, the court instructed the prosecutor to inform the court whether Ravi’s passport was seized or not.