Hyderabad, July 06: A Division bench of the High Court, consisting of justice G. Raghuram and justice R. Kanta Rao, today dismissed a state government writ petition and cleared the decks for recruitment of diploma-holders as school teachers in the state.
The litigation dates back to a notification in 2006 when the Service Tribunal of the state directed the government to provide reservation to diploma- holders. When the High Court upheld the directive the matter was taken to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the government issued a fresh notification in December 2008 for teacher recruitment. Later, the government provided 30 pc reservation to diploma-holders. When the same was challenged by B.Ed candidates contending that such a subsequent notification cannot govern the earlier employment notification, it was rejected.
The government went back on its notification and announced that the recruitments would be made without reference to the 30 pc reservation. The AP Administrative Tribunal suspended the order. Aggrieved, the government filed the present appeal. The bench ruled that there was nothing wrong with the interim order of the tribunal.
The government will now have to give effect to the quota in favour of diploma- holders.
Plea seeking a stay on beer policy dismissed
Petion Justice B. Seshasayana Reddy dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the beer policy of the state government.
Skol Breweries questioned the policy under which the government sought to procure beer quantities on the basis of national consumption but not on statewide consumption as practised earlier.
The judge had admitted the writ petition and posted the case for his orders on the interim application. Justice Reddy said, “Courts, in exercise of their power of judicial review, do not ordinarily interfere with the policy decisions of the executive unless the policy could be faulted on grounds of mala fides, unreasonableness arbitrariness or unfairness.’’ The judge went on to notice the reasons that ensured the decision and found the recommendations were by the AP Beverages Corporation which, in turn, conducted a market survey.
Notification on liquor shop tenders upheld
Justice B.Seshasayana Reddy upheld a government notification which called for tenders without specifying the locations for liquor shops in Chilakaluripeta in Guntur district.
The petitioner, A.Radhakrishna, questioned the notification issued on May 27 which mentioned that there would be three shops in the `area’ but did not specify the shops’ location. A combined reading of the provisions the petitioner said would show that the notification must detail the location of the said three shops. The petitioner also pointed out that all the other notifications in the state except in the said district did so and the notification was consequentially illegal.
Dismissing the writ petition, the judge pointed out that the words ‘area’ and ‘location’ were cautiously used in the section as well as in the Rules so as to give leverage to the state government’ to issue a notification as given.
Dist judge can shift undertrial from one jail to another
Justice B. Seshasayana Reddy declared that the district judge can order the transfer of an undertrial prisoner from one jail to another even though there is no specific power enabling the court to do so. The judge rejected a writ plea by Katari Anuradha who questioned an order of the Kurnool district judge transferring her husband K. Mohan from the subjail in Kurnool to the central Jail in Kadapa.
Mohan is an undertrial in two criminal cases and is lodged in the said jail in Kurnool. An earlier application for transfer was rejected by the magistrate.
However, the district superintendent of police addressed a communication to the district judge for his transfer.
The district judge on October 19 allowed the petition.
In the present petition the petitioner alleged that the ground of safety to the detainee was a ruse to have him transferred and lodged in Kadapa and thereby deprive him of his right to properly defend himself.
In his counter-affidavit justifying the application for the transfer the police superintendent said that the detainee was engaged in a long-drawn battle with sitting MLA C.Jayachandra Reddy.
While stating that both parties were planning attacks on each other he said “the sitting MLA is also contemplating attacking the undertrial prisoner either in prison or on his transit from prison to court or back.’’ Dismissing the petition, the judge pointed out that though there was no specific power in the CrPC it did not prevent the district judge from making the order for the safety of the undertrial.
–Agencies