Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Andhra Pradesh High Court raps Veda Patashala for repeated abuse cases

By S A Ishaqui
Hyderabad, Feb 13 : Expressing displeasure at the repeated incidents of sexual abuse of students at the Veda Patashala run, shockingly, by the Devasthanams at Tirupati, the AP High Court on Monday directed the TTD to deposit `5 lakh as compensation to one of the victims of sodomy. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a plea relating to the sexual abuse on a student of the Patashala by his seniors three years ago.

On January 30, the bench directed the TTD to submit its proposals regarding providing relief to the boy. The bench had appointed P. Naveen Rao to argue the case on behalf of the boy. When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, the Chief Justice, referring to yet another incident of sexual assault on a boy a few months ago in the Patashala, demanded to know whether this is the way a school is run.

Mr Y.V. Prasad, counsel for the TTD, replied that the victim had left the school along with his parents. In the case being heard, he directed the TTD to deposit the Rs 5 lakh to the Registry by Friday and also find out the address of the second victim. Mr Naveen Rao, counsel for the first victim, brought to the notice of the court that the boy was treated as an out-patient in a private clinic in the city.

The bench directed the Legal Service Authority to visit the boy and take him for medical examination. Ms V. Padmavathi, chairperson, child welfare committee, Ranga Reddy, had written a letter to the CJ stating that the boy joined the Veda Patashala in 2008, when he was 11 years old and was abused by seniors. The TTD paid Rs 4 lakh compensation to him. She submitted that after the incident, the boy became mentally unsound and he undergoing treatment.

The case was posted for next Tuesday. Elsewhere, the bench issued notice to the TTD on a plea seeking directions to the TTD to do away with VIP break darshans.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

No realignment on Hyderabad Mtero Rail corridor for now: State

By S A ishaqui

Hyderabad, Feb 10 : The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday given an undertaking before the AP High Court that it would not proceed further with regard to the alignment of the Metro Rail Corridor III between Greenlands and Shilparamam, till next Thursday. The undertaking was filed by special counsel for the government Girikrishna during the hearing on a plea by the Joint Action Committee of local traders who challenged the alignment of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project proposed for Corridor III from Nagole to Shilparamam.

Senior counsel appearing for petitioners D.V. Seetharama Murthy told the court that the authorities have aligned the route between Greenlands and Shilparamam to protect the buildings belonging to influential persons. Mr Murthy added that because of this, several small traders will be deprived of their livelihood due to the changed alignment. He urged the court to direct the state to revert to the original alignment

Plea against film censor board by producers of film “Swamy Satyananda” dismissed

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad, Feb 10 : Justice Ashutosh Mohunta of the AP High Court on Friday dismissed an interim plea by Maruti Art Films challenging the decision of the Central Board of Film Certification not to accord certification for the trailer of the Telugu version of the film “Swamy Satyananda”.

CBFC counsel N.V. Ramanujam told the court that the board rejected the certification to the original version of the film, made in Kannada, on the ground that the visuals and words in the film were defamatory in nature. Moreover, a lower court in Bengaluru has granted injection against the film, the board said.
The petitioner contended that the lower court's order against the Kannada version of the film cannot be applicable to the dubbed movie. But the judge was not convinced with the argument and dismissed the interim application and posted the writ for final hearing.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Babus rapped on condition in hostels by Andhra Pradesh High Court

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad, Feb 4 : The AP High Court on Friday expressed its deep displeasure at the way hostels are being managed across the twin cities and gave the state government a month to improve the conditions in the hostels.

In a virtual post-mortem of the state of affairs in various hostels across the twin cities, a bench comprising Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar said that the officials of the social welfare department had filed a compilation of some photo copies and a bunch of GOs as counter affidavits. The bench was dealing with a taken up matter regarding the poor conditions of hostels in the twin cities.

Justice Lokur, apparently annoyed with the response by the babus, asked the authorities how much money has been spent on photo copies in a year and how many GOs are issued every year.
It may be recalled that on Wednesday, the court cautioned the authorities that if they did not come out with a proper action plan, it will deal with the issue seriously. The welfare babus, who have been already fined Rs 5,000 for not filing their counter affidavit, submitted their report on Friday.

Pointing out to a flaw in the reports, Justice Lokur said, “On one hand it is being stated that no repairs are required, and on the other hand you are assuring that repairs will be completed in a month.”
Referring to statistics pertaining to expenditure of funds for the past five years, the CJ said “not a single paisa had lapsed in the budget for the last five years. Where is all this money is going? Someone has to advise the World Bank on how to make use of your services for management of funds.”

He asked the authorities, “How do you manage that when the best economic minds cannot? You must serve as advisors to the World Bank.” Referring to the difference in the figures pertaining to providing bed sheets and other equipment, the CJ pointed out that the figures were more than the existing strength of inmates in a hostel.

Additional advocate-general B. Bhaskar Rao, told the court that the children were provided 2 pairs of sheets and 4 pairs of clothes each. He also said that the government is proposing to increase the diet charges and also introduce a ‘Green Channel Scheme’ to improve the conditions in hostels. This left the CJ wondering if there is any shortage of clothes in Andhra Pradesh. “Why have you not procured clothes for them even as the academic year is coming to an end,” he asked.