SC junks Nagam's plea against Palamuru-Ranga Reddy scheme

Hyderabad / New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy, which alleged financial irregularities in the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS).
The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice B V Nagarathna and comprising Justice Satish Chandra Sharma after an elaborate hearing on Wednesday dismissed the SLP recording that there are no merits in the case to interfere with the Order of the High Court of Telangana which had earlier dismissed the Public Interest Litigation filed by Dr Nagam Janardhan Reddy vide Order dated 03.12.2018.
The Supreme Court bench observed that four other cases filed by Dr Nagam relating to the very same project before the High Court have been either dismissed or disposed and have attained finality as no appeals are pending. It also recorded that the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), while dealing with the complaint filed by very same Nagam on this issue, had given a clear finding that the allegations are unsubstantiated.
The bench questioned the senior counsel Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioner Dr Nagam, as to how a prayer can be sought before the High Court in a Writ Petition to declare the revision of rates as fraudulent. Responding to this, Bhushan urged the bench to ignore that part of the prayer and focus on the second part which was seeking a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the alleged fraud.
Justice Nagarathna stated that any revision of rates or ratios could have been exercising of commercial wisdom by the State and wondered how can the courts give a direction to the CBI to investigate. She said courts cannot be a monitor for every action of the State. Senior counsel and former Attorney General, Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), in his submissions raised objections about the maintainability of the SLP itself. He informed the court that the very same petitioner Dr Nagam has been filing one after another cases for the last 10 years before the High Court, CVC etc against them as a form of harassment. He drew the attention of the court to the finding given by the CVC on the complaint made by Dr Nagam.
After hearing submissions on both sides in detail, the Supreme Court bench pronounced its order dismissing the SLP.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

NDTV

41 minutes ago

• NDTV

Cops Can't Barge Into History Sheeters' Homes For 'Surveillance': Court

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has held that the police have no right to knock on the doors of suspected persons or history sheeters or "barge" into their homes at night under the guise of surveillance. The ruling by Justice V G Arun came on a plea by a man accused of threatening police officers from discharging their duties when they asked him to come out of his home late at night as part of night check on rowdy history sheeters. Allowing the plea, the court quashed the FIR against the man and all further proceedings in connection with it, saying that "under the guise of surveillance, the police cannot knock on the doors or barge into the houses of history sheeters". The court said that police officers should understand that the concept of home "transcends its physical manifestation as a dwelling and encompasses a rich tapestry of existential, emotional and social dimensions". "In other words, every man's house is his castle or temple, the sanctity of which cannot be vilified by knocking on the door at odd hours. A person's right to life encompasses the right to live with dignity and dignity is non-negotiable," it said. The court further said that under the Kerala Police Manual only 'informal watching' of history sheeters and 'close watch' over those leading criminal existence were permitted. "Undoubtedly, neither of those expressions permit domicile visits at night," it added. It also pointed out that under section 39 of the Kerala Police Act all persons are bound to comply with the 'lawful directions' of a police officer for discharge of his functions. "Knocking on the doors of a history sheeter at midnight and demanding him to come out of the house cannot by any stretch of imagination be termed as a lawful direction," the court said. Consequently, the petitioner cannot be prosecuted for the offence of threatening a police officer to obstruct him from discharging his duties under the Kerala Police Act for refusing to abide by the direction to come out of the house at night, the court added. "If, as alleged, the petitioner had used derogatory language or threatened the police during the course of such refusal, his action may invite some other offence, but definitely not the offence he is presently charged with," it said. The petitioner had claimed that he was implicated in the case to divert the enquiry ordered by the High Court into his complaint alleging police harassment. The police had claimed that as part of their night check duty on rowdy history sheeters, officers had gone to ascertain if the petitioner was at home. However, when he was asked to open the door of his home, he refused to do so and also abused and intimidated the officer, it had alleged.

Mint

2 hours ago

• Mint

Kerala High Court bars police from barging into history sheeters' home under guise of surveillance

The Kerala High Court has held that the police have no right to knock on the doors of suspected persons or history sheeters or "barge" into their homes at night under the guise of surveillance. The ruling by Justice V G Arun came on a plea by a man accused of threatening police officers from discharging their duties when they asked him to come out of his home late at night as part of night check on rowdy history sheeters. Allowing the plea, the court quashed the FIR against the man and all further proceedings in connection with it, saying that "under the guise of surveillance, the police cannot knock on the doors or barge into the houses of history sheeters". The court said that police officers should understand that the concept of home "transcends its physical manifestation as a dwelling and encompasses a rich tapestry of existential, emotional and social dimensions". "In other words, every man's house is his castle or temple, the sanctity of which cannot be vilified by knocking on the door at odd hours. A person's right to life encompasses the right to live with dignity and dignity is non-negotiable," it said. The court further said that under the Kerala Police Manual only 'informal watching' of history sheeters and 'close watch' over those leading criminal existence were permitted. "Undoubtedly, neither of those expressions permit domicile visits at night," it added. It also pointed out that under section 39 of the Kerala Police Act all persons are bound to comply with the 'lawful directions' of a police officer for discharge of his functions. "Knocking on the doors of a history sheeter at midnight and demanding him to come out of the house cannot by any stretch of imagination be termed as a lawful direction," the court said. Consequently, the petitioner cannot be prosecuted for the offence of threatening a police officer to obstruct him from discharging his duties under the Kerala Police Act for refusing to abide by the direction to come out of the house at night, the court added. "If, as alleged, the petitioner had used derogatory language or threatened the police during the course of such refusal, his action may invite some other offence, but definitely not the offence he is presently charged with," it said. The petitioner had claimed that he was implicated in the case to divert the enquiry ordered by the High Court into his complaint alleging police harassment. The police had claimed that as part of their night check duty on rowdy history sheeters, officers had gone to ascertain if the petitioner was at home. However, when he was asked to open the door of his home, he refused to do so and also abused and intimidated the officer, it had alleged.

The Hindu

2 hours ago

• The Hindu

Ambedkar's portrait to find a place in all court halls of Karnataka

A photograph/portrait of the chief architect of the Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, will be displayed at a prominent and suitable place in all the court halls of the High Court of Karnataka as well as in district judiciary across the State. A notification in this regard was issued by the High Court on June 19. A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the full court of the High Court of Karnataka recently after considering representations received from the general public, advocates, forums, and organisations, and the communications issued by the Government of Karnataka from time to time requesting the High Court to display the photograph/portrait of Ambedkar, said the notification.