HC warns GHMC Commissioner of action

Hyderabad: The PIL bench of the High court at Hyderabad on Monday made it clear that it would initiate suo motto contempt against the GHMC Commissioner and the Secretary of Municipal Administration if they failed to remove road encroachments in Siddiamber Bazar in the city.

The bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sen Gupta and Justice P V Sanjay made the observation while adjourning by a week a writ plea filed by Lakshmi Nivas Agarwal seeking a direction to the civic authorities to remove the unauthorised encroachments on road margins at Siddiambar Bazar and Mahboobgunj.

The petitioner pointed out that though the fact of such illegal occupation on pavements was brought to the notice of the authorities as early as in May last year, no action was taken and that the same was illegal, arbitrary, unjust and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

Kalayana Lakshmi scheme: Court asks petition to approach govt

The PIL bench of the High court at Hyderabad comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sen Gupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar on Monday refused to take on file a writ petition filed by the president of the All India BC/OBC party asking for extension of the Kalyani Lakshmi Padakam to named backward class communities.

The petitioner pointed out that the AP government had issued an order in September 2014 and that it was discriminatory in as much as it was not all inclusive. The bench said it was a matter of the policy of the government. The bench pointed out that since it was the prayer of the petitioner to extend such benefits, it was for the petitioner to make such representation to the government and for the government to consider such representation on merits.

TS, AP directed to ensure clean civic life

The PIL bench of the High Court on Monday issued directions to the governments of Telangana and AP to work towards clean civic life. The bench while dealing with a writ petition filed by Vishaka Society for Protection and Care of Animals reiterated its earlier view that the civic authorities examined division of collection of waste by classifying them as bio degradable waste and no bio degradable waste at the collection point.

The bench is dealing with a writ plea filed by the NGO seeking a total ban on the manufacture of plastic bags of all sizes by all companies small scale units factories and other organisations and also ban the sale use and circulation of all plastic bags in shops, hotels and super bazaars and all the shops dealing with the sale of groceries fruits and other light and heavy consumer articles of domestic use and commercial use in the entire State of Andhra Pradesh to save the earth from the hazards of pollution and to protect the health of the human beings as well as the animal and sea world which form part of the environment within a time bound programme .

Counsel for the Petitioner Shyam Agarwal also said it was time to put in place garbage collection and treatment devices in the entire State and to create awareness among the public about the ill-effects arising out of indiscriminate use of plastic bags by advertisements through media both audio and visual and also provide methods to treat the plastic material so far dumped and being dumped in all the places in the entire state.

The bench pointed out that a per se ban on use of plastic is neither possible nor legal and that plastic can be usued within the prescribed limit. The judge said that the same must also be considered the authorities form the GramPanchayat level.Court directs

Bharatsimha Reddy to stop illegal mining

The High Court here on Monday directed D K Bharatsimha Reddy, husband of former Minister and Congress MLA D K Aruna, to stop illegal mining in Mahbubnagar district immediately. The court also directed the Mining department to collect Rs 32crore penalty imposed on Bharatsimha Reddy by the officials. The officials of the Mining Department detected that Bharatsimha Reddy was indulging in illegal mining in Mannur under Dharur mandal of Mahbubnagar district and imposed the Rs 32 crore penalty.