Plea Challenges Police Recruitment Rule

Hyderabad: A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court filed a writ plea challenging the validity of Rule 15 imposed under paragraph 6 of the GO dated April 8, 2022, which regulates recruitment under the Telangana Police (Paid Student Trainee) Rules. The panel, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin, was hearing a writ plea filed by Banoth Narender challenging the adoption of the amended rule and its implementation by the Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board in the ongoing recruitment process for 15,644 posts. The lawyer argued that the application of the rule had led to a large number of vacancies remaining unfilled despite the availability of suitable candidates. Counsel for the petitioner argued that transfer of such vacancies to a future notification is contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court which mandates that unattended vacancies be made available to the next worthy suitable candidate. The panel gave the state two weeks to submit its response.

Hospital. Doctor’s fake documents attract attention

Justice Nagesh Bheema-paka admitted a writ petition challenging a show-cause notice issued by Ekashilaa Hospitals over allegations that a doctor had issued a fake certificate. The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by the hospital seeking a declaration that the action of the Hanamkonda district medical and health officer was arbitrary. The petitioner alleged that the authorities initiated proceedings to cancel the registration of the clinic establishment without proper investigation and without giving him a fair opportunity to respond. Justice Bheemapaka directed the respondents to file their replies in the matter.

The judge criticized universities that have certificates

Justice Surepalli Nanda strongly condemned the increasing practice of educational institutions to hide original certificates of students in order to force payment of alleged financial dues. The judge ordered Alphores Girls’ High School to immediately release the consolidated transcript of a student whose certificate was allegedly withheld following a $75,000 request. The judge ruled that keeping academic certificates is not legally permissible and that institutions cannot withhold these certificates under any excuse. The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by PV Amarender Reddy, who said that his daughter Pargi Shriya Reddy had completed her Intermediate course with 98 per cent marks and all fees had been paid. Despite this, the college requested an additional amount for the publication of the long memo required for higher education counseling. Although most of the certificates were returned during the litigation, long notes continued to be withheld because the university insisted on payment. Relying on earlier orders of the Telangana High Court, Justice Nanda reiterated that academic certificates are the property of students and any fee dispute should be resolved by resorting to appropriate legal remedies and not by resorting to coercive tactics such as withholding documents. The judge ordered the university to release the lengthy memo within a week.

Murder suspect released on bail

The Telangana High Court on Tuesday granted bail to three accused accused in connection with the alleged murder of a youth following his inter-caste marriage with the sister of the two accused. The judge was hearing the criminal complaints filed by Kotla Naveen, Kotla Vamshi and Bairu Mahesh. The accused are accused of culpable homicide, criminal acts committed with common intention and serious offenses allegedly committed against a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste under the SC/ST (Prevention of Cruelty) Act, 1989. According to the prosecution, the deceased married a girl against his family’s wishes, after which he allegedly received threats from his brothers. The complainant, the deceased’s father, filed a report after his son was found dead near a pond on the outskirts of Pillalamarri. The petitioners were arrested on January 29 and have been in judicial custody since then. Senior advocate Vinod Kumar Deshpande, appearing for the accused, argued that the petitioners were wrongly involved in the crime only because of inter-caste marriage and family enmity. It was claimed that the case was based on circumstantial evidence and extrajudicial confessions, and that there was no direct material linking them to the death. The defense argued that the deceased had multiple criminal cases pending against him, creating many possible motives unrelated to the defendant. The senior lawyer also argued that the victim and her husband were in a relationship for over several years and hence the honor killing charges were false. It has been argued that further detention amounts to pre-trial punishment, given that the indictment has been filed and the investigation has been completed. After hearing the arguments, the judge released the plaintiffs on bail.