Telangana: Woman files plea in HC on adoption

3 September 2020

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, on Thursday adjourned a habeas corpus petition filed by M Kavitha Reddy seeking directions to produce her daughter before the court.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner complained that her daughter was taken away by the Child Welfare Committee on the grounds that the adoption was illegal. He pointed out that no orders were passed by the Child Welfare Committee but with the aid of the police, the petitioner’s daughter was taken away.

He submitted to the court that the biological mother of the minor had abandoned her when the child was 2 months old and her present address was not known. The father of the minor daughter had expired in an accident. The child was with the paternal grandparents and that they had given her in adoption to the petitioner who was a distant relative of the child. The panel directed the petitioner to implead the grandparents and confirm the authenticity of the adoption deed. Court posted the case to next week.

State police functioning irks panel

The same panel came down heavily on the state on the functioning of the State police in giving instructions to public prosecutors. It directed the Advocate General to examine the same and issue necessary instructions to the public prosecutors. The panel was dealing with a habeas corpus case filed by Pagidi Ravi who sought the release of Pagidi Sashi who was detained under the Preventive Detention Act.

The panel issued necessary instructions to Advocate General BS Prasad when it found that in the counter filed by the state opposing bail before the trial court, the plea was not taken that the accused was involved in multiple cases thereby resulting in the trial court passing bail orders. A Jagan submitted that the detenue was falsely implicated in the cases and that he was a young person aged 25 years and in detention since February. The court adjourned the case to September 24.

Wing Commander’s wife plea dismissed

Justice P Naveen Rao dismissed a writ petition filed by the wife of a Wing Commander questioning disciplinary proceedings initiated against her husband by the Air Chief Marshal. According to the petitioner, her husband Wing Commander GRS Reddy was falsely implicated in a criminal case, arrested and detained and, therefore, he could not make an effective response to the show-cause notice. It is also contended that post decisional hearing, to impose a major punishment is illegal. The respondent pointed out that it is not a post decisional exercise and was only a show-cause notice.

Surveying the relevant rules of the armed forces, the power of the chief of the air staff to dispense with court-martial and issue a show-cause notice was upheld by the court. However, Justice Rao pointed out that the power to take the decision ultimately rests with the Central government. He pointed out that the Armed Forces Tribunal has the jurisdiction to deal with the matter and, therefore, the petitioner must move the tribunal and not the High Court. He left it open to the party to raise all these questions before the tribunal while dismissing the writ petition.

Panel refuses to set aside caste certificate

Justice P Naveen Rao declared that the caste certificate of a Scheduled Tribe candidate cannot be set aside in violation of principles of natural justice. The judge allowed a writ petition filed by P Suresh Kumar working as a senior accounts officer with defence accounts challenging the cancellation of his Scheduled Caste certificate by the District Collector in March 2020.

Senior counsel G Vidyasagar pointed out that reports of the district scrutiny committee and of the Commissioner Tribal Welfare was not supplied to the petitioner while calling for an explanation. It is also contended that the Collector would have to make an independent decision and not rely solely on the reports. “Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act goes to the root of the matter,” the judge said while setting aside the order of cancellation.

Kamineni denied admission: Student

A two-judge panel, comprising Justice MS Ramchandra Rao and Justice T Amarnath Goud directed authorities to examine and if necessary lodge a complaint against Kamineni Medical College for not granting admission to a student allotted a seat in Post Graduate course in MS General Surgery. The panel was dealing with a writ plea filed by Motukuru Sriyah Koumadhi.

The petitioner complained that though she reported to the college on July 28 as required under the law, the college authorities took various delaying steps and denied admission to her. The petitioner stated various details in support of the claim that she was at the college with all relevant documents and fee. She said even though the Medical Council had extended the last date to August 30, she was denied admission. The panel directed the authorities to reserve a seat pending further adjudication of the matter.

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