High Court Briefs July 07 2011

A division bench of the AP High court comprising Justice Ghulam Mohammad and Justice KG Shanker granted three more weeks time to the state government and the Director General of Police to grant necessary seniority to Reserve Sub Inspectors who were absorbed as Civil sub inspectors and extend to them other consequential service benefits. The bench accordingly adjourned a batch of contempt cases filed against the then Director General of Police (PV Naidu) and the government. The petitioners had sought seniority in service from the date of their joining service in the Reserve Sub Inspectors category.  Though the Administrative Tribunal rejected their claims , the High Court upheld their plea inmarch 2007.  It is the complaint of the Petitioners that for some time the government did not implement the order as the matter was taken to the supreme court but that they failed to implement the High Court directive even after the supreme court rejected their appeals. In the mean while, they said that about 250 juniors were promoted to the rank of DSP overlooking their seniority.

A division bench of the AP High Court comprising Justice Ghulam Mohammad and Justice KG Shanker refused to grant interim orders to Professors and other teaching personnel of Osmania and Andhra University seeking retirement age be increased to 65 years. The bench however admitted a writ appeal filed against an order of a single judge who too refused to grant such an interim order.  It is the case of the Professors and others that the UGC had introduced a scheme prescribing 65 as the age or retirement. Later, they said this was made a part of the Regulation and thus became compulsory for all education institutions but that the state government and the universities were not following the same.

Justice KC Bhanu of the AP High court on Friday allowed a writ petition filed by the Singareni Colleries Employees Union questioning the decision of the management in seeking to recover from the employees penal wages for an illegal strike in August 2008.  The management had invoked the powers under Section 9 of the Payment of Wages Act. The petitioner union successfully contended before the High Court that the power did not extend to employees earning more than Rs.6500 per month.  The management unsuccessfully pleaded that since the central government had declared that the provisions fo the Payment of Wages Act applied to the industry it was entitled to not pay the said days wages in view of the illegal strike. The judge rejected the contention.

Justice Ashutosh Mohanto of the AP High Court n Thursday voiced surprise at the manner in which life convicts were granted remission and released even before completionof ten years in prison.  The judge ordered notice to the Central Government to come on record and submit its stance.  The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Ansuri Manmadha Rao and Darapu Ram Babu inmates of the Vizag jail seeking their release for good conduct in terms of GO 283 issued by the state government on October 30, 2010. The judge wondered how the executive could exercise such power and directed  the central government to step in with its response.