Hyderabad:Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court came down heavily on the finance principal secretary over an affidavit stating that payment under the Land Acquisition Act would be made “as per ways and means”. The judge found the expression vague and continued non-compliance despite repeated opportunities. The judge observed that land losers were waiting decades after acquisition. The judge was hearing a contempt petition filed by Kurva Veeresamma and others alleging wilful disobedience of orders of April 2025 directing deposit of about Rs 45 crore, the decretal amount for land acquired, within four months. The petitioners contended that their agricultural land in Jogulamba Gadwal district was acquired for construction of a reservoir under the Jawahar lift irrigation scheme, and that only `10 crore was paid while the balance remained unpaid. An application was filed seeking dispensation of the personal appearance of the IAS officer, accompanied by the affidavit stating that the remaining payment would be made as per “ways and means”. The judge noted that the affidavit did not specify any date for payment and that the respondents were seeking time on multiple occasions on different grounds without complying with the order. Taking note of the conduct, the judge granted one final opportunity, directed appearance of Sandeep Kumar Sultana, principal secretary, and posted the matter for final hearing on Monday.
HC admits habeas plea on detenue
A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court admitted a habeas corpus plea filed on behalf of a detenue, who is in preventive detention for over eight months, under the Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Boot-leggers, Dacoits, Drug-offender, Goondas and Others Act. The panel comprising Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar was dealing with the matter filed by Anjum Sultana Qureshi, wife of Mohammed Illyas Qureshi, detained under the Act. Counsel for the petitioner contended that the detention order, though passed in April 2023 was implemented only in October 2025, and that such delay was fatal. It was contended that if the detenue misused bail, the state ought to have sought cancellation of bail instead of resorting to preventive detention. During the hearing, the panel questioned whether the continuing criminal activity would amount to disturbance to public order forming the basis for invocation of the Act and asked the petitioner to demonstrate how the detention fails in law. The state submitted that the detenue stood convicted in seven cases and that 52 cases stand against him, including offences relating to cattle theft. Taking on record the submissions, the panel directed the State to obtain instructions on the list of offences forming the basis for invoking the Act and posted the matter for further hearing.
Woman in trafficking case gets bail
The Telangana High Court granted bail to a woman accused of alleged immoral trafficking. The judge was dealing with a criminal petition filed by Bismillah Begum, accused in a crime registered with the Kanchanbagh police. The case was booked for offences punishable under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. As per the prosecution, acting on credible information regarding operation of a brothel at Hafeezbabanagar, the police conducted a raid on February 18. During the raid, the authorities allegedly found the accused persons running a prostitution racket by procuring women and facilitating customers. It was stated that two victim women were rescued from the premises, while one customer was apprehended at the spot. The petitioner contended that the allegations were false and that the petitioner had no role in any immoral trafficking activity. It was argued that she is wrongly implicated in the case and that there was no material to establish her involvement in the alleged offence. Counsel further submitted that the petitioner was in judicial custody since February and that a substantial part of the investigation was completed. The public prosecutor submitted that the role of the petitioner was clearly borne out from the statements of the victim women and other witnesses, and that the investigation was ongoing. The judge considering that the petitioner was in custody for a considerable period since the date of the raid and the statements of witnesses were already recorded, released her on conditional liberty.
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