HC livid at Nalgonda MP for seeking to withdraw PIL TS against govt

The High Court at Hyderabad came down heavily on TRS leader and MP from Nalgonda, Gutta Sukhender Reddy, for trying to withdraw the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition he had filed against the State government, bestowing Cabinet status on various persons it had appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries and advisors.

He had filed the PIL when he was in Congress party and since he has joined the ruling party, he sought permission to withdraw the PIL.

The division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice J Uma Devi was livid at this attempt and warned that the bench would not allow using courts as political platforms to settle scores. It made it clear that it would not allow withdrawal of this PIL and it would hear the matter even if the petitioner would not advance his arguments.

It may be recalled Gutta Sukhender Reddy filed a PIL in 2015 as a Congress leader challenging the G.O. issued by the State government by which Cabinet status was bestowed on a number of persons appointed in various capacities. He also filed a Writ petition challenging the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries.

Both these were clubbed and heard together by the division bench several times. Later he joined the ruling TRS party. He moved a petition to withdraw the petitions and it came up before the bench on Tuesday. The bench after making strong remarks against this attempt, refused to grant permission to withdraw and declared that it would hear the matter in the coming days.