HC stays lower court's summons issued to Cyberabad CP & CI of Pet Basheerabad

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Tuesday granted stay on proceedings on file of the Court of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Prohibition and Excise Court cum II Additional Junior Civil Judge, Mahbubnagar, and adjourned the criminal petition.

The lower court had registered criminal cases against V Srinivas Goud, Minister for Excise and Prohibition, the CP Cyberabad, DCP Balanagar, Sandeep Rao and 17 other police personnel, for wrongly kidnapping and confining Bhandekar Vishwanath, C. Raghavendra Raju for alleged conspiracy to kill the minister. (criminal petition no. 7465 of 2022)

The CJ was hearing the petition filed by Mutyala Stephen Ravindra, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, and Shagani Ramesh, CI, Pet Basheerabad police station, seeking a stay on the summons issued by the lower court, including their appearance.

The lower court had summoned CP Cyberabad and the CI on a private complaint filed by Bhandekar Pushpalatha, wife of Vishwanath, who, according to the police, tried to eliminate Goud.

The hearing was adjourned to December 2.

HC directs officials to suggest developmental activities for transgender community

On Tuesday the High Court division bench, comprising CJ Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy heard the public interest litigation filed by Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli alias M Vijay Kumar/Vijay Jagdish Mogli, a social activist from Attapur, seeking to provide free ration, food and nutrition and provisions, including vegetables and fruits, to members of the transgender community from ration shops and other outlets without insisting for ration cards.

The bench directed the State authorities to provide free medicines to transgenders, including HIV, hormone therapy, diabetes, from primary health centres and government and public hospitals.

It asked the authorities to allow transgenders to apply for and provide payment of three months social security pension under the Aasara scheme, to provide free LPG cylinders and to waive electricity bill for six months to them, on the lines of similar assurance for three months under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.

Counsel for petitioner Jayna Kothari informed the court that, as per the committee report of the member-secretary, around 58,900 transgenders are living in the State under vulnerable conditions. The State government has to consider the transgender community by implementing for them Aasara pensions.

CJ Bhuyan, while interrupting Kothari, expressing concern about the transgender community, said they are extremely vulnerable. "Moreover, they are also part of society". GP Radhiv told the court that the member-secretary's report did not mention anything about Aasara pensions to transgenders. CJ Bhuyan observed that time has come to change our mindset. He described one incident involving a transgender while he was walking at Connaught Place in Delhi. The CJ responding positively " we have to do something in favour to the community at large. He called for suggestions on developmental activities favouring the transgender community. The CJ directed the registry to list the case on October 19.