HC ‘reserves orders’ on petition challenging election of B B Patil, MP

Hyderabad: The single bench of Justice Sambasiva Rao of Telangana High Court, on Thursaday “reserved orders” on the election petition challenging the election of Bheemrao Baswanthrao Patil, Zaheerabad BRS MP, in 2018.

The counsel for the petitioner, K Madan Mohan Rao, who contested the election on the Congress ticket, challenged the election of Patil and sought a direction to declare the election “invalid”.

The Counsel for Patil argued that Rao had not filed the petition within 45 days, prescribed time from the date of election; there was a delay in filing the petition; it should be dismissed as per Order 7, rule 11 of CPC; it is not maintainable.

The counsel for the petitioner told the court that Patil, as per orders of the Supreme Court, had not submitted copies of newspapers furnishing information of criminal cases pending against him. He had not complied with other orders of the apex court.

The court ‘reserved for orders’ on August 10.

Govt seeks three weeks to inform court date it will hold local bodies polls

On Thursday the Telangana State Election Commission informed the High Court’s division bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T Vinod Kumar, that it is ready to hold elections to the local bodies (zilla parishads, mandal parishads and gram panchayats) in the State subject to the government giving its assent. Advocate-General Banda Shivananda Prasad, prayed before the court to grant another three weeks’ time to enable him to place the dates by which the State will be ready to hold the polls to the local bodies.

Accordingly, the CJ court granted three weeks’ time to the A-G, to enable him to get instructions from the government and apprise the court, the date, within which the elections will be held.

The bench was adjudicating the PIL filed by Rapolu Bhaskar, advocate, seeking directions to the TSEC and the government to hold elections to the local bodies (220 sarpanches, 94 MPTCs, four ZPTCs, 5,364 ward members and 344 deputy sarpanches’ posts) which are vacant since years. Due to non-conduct of the elections people living in those areas have been deprived of welfare measures and development activities.

Earlier, on the last date of hearing, the CJ bench had directed the government to inform the date, when the State will be holding the elections.

Hearing in the case was adjourned to August 28.

Court hears petitions filed by govt teachers challenging their transfers

The High Court division bench on Thursday heard the batch of writ petitions filed by government teachers working in various schools across the State, challenging the constitutional validity of the rules, through which they have been transferred.

The court said it will hear the vacate stay petition filed by the State on the batch of writ petitions, seeking vacation of the stay orders dated March 7. Earlier on March 7 J Ramchander Rao, Additional Advocate-General, informed the court that it had stayed the transfer of government teachers across the State; because of the orders, the transfers of other teachers have come to a grinding halt for the last three months. Hence, he prayed to the court to hear the writ petitions at an early date. The CJ, after hearing the contentions of AAG, observed that the cases pertaining to 2005 are still pending before the court for adjudication; the State can’t now come before the court and pray for an early adjudication of a case of 2023.

However, the CJ court said it will hear the batch of writ petitions on the interim vacate petition on August 7. The CJ court was adjudicating the batch of writ petitions filed by teachers (headmaster / headmistress Gr.II Gaz.) school assistants/SGTs and other equivalent posts) working in various government schools across the State, challenging their transfers.

Petitioners challenged the constitutional validity of the Telangana Teachers Regulation of Transfers Rules, 2023, made through GO 5 dated January 25, 2023.

The CJ bench had on March 7 stayed the teachers’ transfers stating that the rules which have been formed were not placed on the floor of the Telangana Legislative Assembly. Hearing in the case was adjourned to August 7.