Hyderabad:A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court took on file a writ appeal qua alleged arbitrary inclusion of name of the appellant as ‘most wanted criminal” by the Telangana crime investigation department (CID). The panel, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao, was dealing with a writ appeal challenging a single judge order relegating the appellant to approach the civil court seeking relief of damages in respect of his claim for loss of reputation. Earlier a writ plea was filed by Bommaraju Krishna challenging the declaration of the petitioner as “most wanted criminal” in CID and Google websites and making it viral on the basis of an FIR alleging that he, along with his family members, had harassed the wife of the petitioner, both mentally and physically, for additional dowry. It is the case of the appellant that he earlier worked in Accenture Solutions. However, when the petitioner wanted to shift his employment to another MNC, his antecedents were checked and having found that his name was shown in the list of “most wanted criminal” in CID websites, he was denied employment, and he is also suffering from heart attack and consequently lost job opportunities in MNCs. The single judge, while allowing the writ petition, pointed out that the state has not placed on record any guidelines or instructions issued by the police department, as to how the name of the petitioner is shown in the list of ‘most wanted criminal’. In the absence of such guidelines, it is arbitrary on the part of the respondent police to show the name of the petitioner in that list. The single judge refused to entertain the claim of damages and said, so far as the claim of damages of `10 lakh was concerned, in the opinion of this court, the same does not fall for consideration in this writ petition. It requires pleadings and evidence, and it is in the realm of civil law jurisdiction. However, the petitioner is given liberty to approach the civil court for claiming damages against the police department and wife of the petitioner, the judge said. The present writ appeal is filed to the extent of directing the appellant to approach the civil court for claim of monetary damages. The appellant contended that he is depressed and suffering from cardiac problems and undergoing treatment and therefore the appeal was filed with a delay of 614 days. The panel, considering the same, ordered notices and posted the matter after three weeks.
Woman seeks removal of her photos on social media platforms
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court directed the Ramachandrapuram station house officer (SHO) to take steps for deleting photos and videos of a woman, being circulated from fake IDs over Meta platforms. The judge was dealing with a writ plea filed by a woman aggrieved by the actions of a person whom she was earlier in a relationship with. It is the case of the petitioner that the unofficial respondent was creating fake IDs over social media platforms and posting her images, videos and content. The petitioner alleged that the action of the unofficial respondent was leading to problems in her marital life. The petitioner is seeking a direction to the police authorities to remove all videos, photos and other contents of the petitioner posted by the unofficial respondent so as to protect the privacy of the petitioner and curtail activities that are tarnishing her reputation. After hearing the counsel for the petitioner, the judge passed the interim direction and required the government pleader to get instructions on the next date of hearing.
Freedom fighter’s widow demands family pension
Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya of the Telangana High Court will decide a writ plea of an 89-year-old woman seeking family pension. The judge is hearing a writ plea filed by Poshala Rajeswari, challenging the actions of the freedom fighter division of the Union ministry of home affairs and the State Bank of India (SBI), in not sanctioning family pension to her despite the fact that her late husband, a freedom fighter, was drawing pension. Counsel for the petitioner drew attention of the judge to the pension rules and the 2014 policy guidelines issued by the Union Government to establish rights of the petitioner to receive family pension. It is the case of the petitioner that despite submitting her application in a time-bound manner, the respondent authorities failed to process her application, in spite of several reminders. The government pleader appearing for the freedom fighter division sought time to seek instructions in the matter. Accordingly, the judge posted the matter to next week for hearing.
NH authorities accused of ‘illegal’ drainage digging in agri land
The Telangana High Court will hear a plea seeking to halt the alleged illegal actions of local authorities attempting to dig a drainage channel through private agricultural land. Justice T. Vinod of the Telangana High Court took on file a writ plea filed by Kabir Habib. The petitioner contended that the authorities are proceeding with the illegal digging without prior notice and without adhering to statutory procedures. The petitioner sought a direction against the actions of the authorities, particularly the executive engineer of the roads department, NH division, Hyderabad, as illegal and arbitrary. The petitioner also alleged that the authorities had failed to comply with the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013, which mandates due process and adequate compensation in matters of land acquisition. The government pleader, however, contended that the ongoing drainage work does not involve any part of the petitioner’s land and is being carried out solely for the purpose of laying the canal. The government also sought time to submit the land acquisition drawings as evidence. Considering the same, the judge deferred the hearing by a week.