Justice league

Relief for Raja Singh, HC stays 1-yr imprisonment

In a relief to BJP MLA Raja Singh, the Telangana High Court on Wednesday stayed a recent order of the special court at Nampally which had convicted and sentenced him to one-year imprisonment in a five-year-old case regarding a dispute at a beef festival. 

Raja Singh, who represents the Goshamahal constituency, is out on bail till the disposal of the appeal before the High Court. On January 29, the special court for trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs convicted Singh and sentenced him to one year imprisonment in a case registered by the Bollarum police under IPC Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

On December 12, 2015, the police took him into preventive custody when he protested against a ‘beef festival’ which was being organised by the joint action committee of the Osmania University on the campus. When the MLA allegedly assaulted and threatened police personnel, he was booked and a chargesheet filed before the trial court. 

On January 29, the special court convicted Singh and fined him for Rs 5,000. On the same day, it granted him bail and suspended the sentence of imprisonment till March 1 so that he can file an appeal before the High Court. Accordingly, Singh filed the appeal.

His counsel stated that the lower court had convicted him despite there being no documentary evidence to show that the police personnel were discharging their duties at the time of the alleged offence. Even the prosecution witnesses admitted that they had not filed any documentary evidence to show that they were discharging duties. Justice G Sri Devi stayed the impugned order and adjourned the matter by four weeks.

130 criminal cases against MPs, MLAs pending in TS

There are 130 pending criminal cases against MPs, MLAs and MLCs in Telangana as on September 30, 2020, according to an RTI reply. When RTI activist Jalagam Sudheer sought the details, the High Court stated that permission was accorded to inaugurate a special court in the cadre of special judge for the trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs of the State at Hyderabad. The High Court had allotted funds to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Hyderabad, for meeting the expenditure of various courts.

The Metropolitan Sessions Judge, in turn, would allot the funds to all subordinate courts under its administrative control, including the special court which has jurisdiction over the entire State for the trial of such criminal cases. The State also allocated Rs 1 crore for the judicial reform/establishment of special courts, the RTI reply stated. Asked about the latest Supreme Court guidelines on criminal cases against elected representatives, the RTI reply said no guidelines in this regard were received from the Apex Court.

HC pulls up SCCL over reserving post for women

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday declared the Singareni Collieries Company Limited’s (SCCL) decision to reserve the junior staff nurse posts for women as invalid as per law. The SCCL had reserved the post despite men, who meet the job criteria, being available in the market. The court directed it to hire even men if they fulfil the criteria prescribed in the recruitment notification and told it to extend the deadline for submitting the applications. 

“Prima facie, the company’s stand is not valid. No policy decision was taken as required by Rule 22-A of the Telangana State and Subordinate Services Rules, 1996 and it is only by practice that the company is filling up the posts with women and excluding men,” it observed.

Justice P Naveen Rao passed this interim order in a petition filed by a job aspirant, Mohammed Fasiuddin, who had challenged the SCCL notification of January 22 in which it invited applications to the said posts only from women candidates. The petitioner’s counsel contended that there cannot be reservation based on gender. The decision violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, the counsel argued. On the other hand, the standing counsel for SCCL submitted that it is the company’s practice to fill all the posts of junior staff nurse only with women. 

Justice Naveen Rao said it is difficult to fathom how posts can be reserved for women when men who meet the criteria are available. He made it clear that the recruitment shall abide by the result of the case.