High Court Briefs June 17 2011

Justice NV Ramana of the AP High Court on Friday reserved orders in the writ petition seeking an independent probe and for charge sheeting police officers involved in the encounter leading to the death of Adapa Venkanna.

The judge was hearing a writ petition filed by Adapa Mahalakshmi the widow of the slain person who alleged that it was a fake encounter and that the entire episode required a proper criminal investigation and that police should be punished .

Senior Counsel C. Padmanabha Reddy Senior Counsel who was called upon to assist the court said that the police complaint itself showed that the victim died due to bullet injuries.  He said the theory of  self defence taken by the police requires to be investigated and the police must thus be investigated. He referred to a full bench order of the court which required the police to register a FIR. Special government Pleader Sridhar Reddy informed the court that the judgement of the full bench was suspended and thus could not be pressed into service.  He pointed out that it was the victim who first opened fire and thus the police were forced to open fire in self defence.

          Justice G. Rohini granted time till Tuesday to the central government  to respondent with details in a writ petition questioning the waiver of the ‘actual user’ condition in the import of Maize for pop corn into the country.

The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Sriven Marketings challenging the action of the Union government in withdrawing the said condition as one effecting the rights of local farmers.

          According to the petitioner which engages farmers to grow maize the government had initially imposed central excise on such maize being used for producing popcorn at 60%, then reduced it to 15 % and now has completely withdrawn the same.  The government which earlier had granted exemption for import of maize only by ‘ actual user’ had withdrawn the said condition thereby facilitating its large scale import.  The petitioner pointed out that after Chickmagalur in Karnataka, the districts of Karimnagar, Rangareddy and Hyderabad were the largest growers of the variety and the policy of the government would seriously jeopardise the prospects of the local farmers.