Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court dismissed a PIL challenging alleged illegal installation of a politician’s statue at the Picket Public Garden in Secunderabad. The panel comprising acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara was dealing with a PIL filed by Jetty Umeshwar Rao. The petitioner contended that the installation of the statue was against the interest of the public and it was obligatory on the part of the government to protect and improve the environment, whereas by installing the statue they were destroying greenery and the environment. It was further contended that there existed no enabling provision for the erection of statues in the Public Garden. B. Narasimha Sharma, additional solicitor-general of India, argued that the public interest litigation did not disclose what were the social activities carried out by the petitioner. The certificate and award of appreciation on which reliance was placed were relating to blood donation camps and had nothing to do with the environment. He contended that merely doing yoga in the Public Garden did not make the petitioner a social worker. The ASG contended that the statue that was erected was of a former prime minister and a Bharat Ratna conferee, whose centenary functions were going on in the entire year, and its inauguration is due. The statue was installed at the end of the large garden. It was not creating any hindrance to the people, who are doing yoga or walking. Thus, no element of public interest was there in the petition. The panel after perusing the record said, the petitioner was not a public-spirited person for the purpose of raising the grievance. The panel also found that photographs filed made it “crystal clear that in huge green garden a statue is erected at the end and pathway or greenery or walking area are not at all disturbed. Thus, on merits, we find no justification to interfere.” The panel accordingly dismissed the PIL. Pupil-teacher ratio in school for special children: HC entertains writ pleaJustice T. Vinod Kumar of Telangana High Court directed the school education department and other authorities to submit a compliance report regarding the recruitment of special educators, in line with the Supreme Court’s directive to maintain the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) for children with special needs (CwSN) in schools. The judge was dealing with a writ plea filed by Suhani and 26 others who contended that the mandated PTR of 15:1 had not been maintained despite the Supreme Court’s directions in ‘Rajneesh Kumar Pandey & Others vs. Union of India & Others’ dated October 28, 2021.The petitioners further alleged that the state government had failed to fill all the sanctioned posts under GO dated August 26, 2023, for the academic year 2024-25, which they said was illegal, arbitrary and unjust. The Supreme Court, in its order dated July 21, 2022, had instructed all states and Union Territories to ensure compliance with the prescribed PTR norms for special schools and the separate norms for special educators in general schools, as recommended by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) and the Union department of empowerment of persons with disabilities (DEPID).In response, the state government claimed that 70 per cent of the required 507 special educators had been appointed in government and local body schools at the upper primary and secondary levels. It was also submitted that a notification was issued on February 29, 2024, for direct recruitment of special education teachers, followed by the issuance of appointment orders on October 9, 2024. Taking note of these submissions, the judge directed the respondent authorities to place before the court a copy compliance report for his perusal. The matter is now listed for hearing after two weeks. TSU Electricity Employees Union seek parity Justice Surepalli Nanda of the Telangana High Court entertained a plea alleging inaction of the Telangana Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (TNPDCL) in considering office-bearers of the petitioner union on par with the other unions to offer full-time recognition. The judge was dealing with a plea filed by Telangana State United Electricity Employees Union. The petitioner alleged that their representations forwarded in November, 2024 requesting permission to declare the state office-bearers of the petitioner union on par with the other unions was in vain. The petitioner contended that the union had members from all over the state spread across Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited (Genco), Transmission Corporation of Telangana Limited (Transco) and Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (Disom) and failure of the authorities to consider their case, is causing undue hardship. The respondent submited that the request of the petitioner shall be considered by the authorities at TNPDCL within a reasonable period of time. The judge directed the authorities to consider the representations of the petitioner within one week from the date of the order.
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