The AP High Court on Monday directed the state government to file a status report on the quantity of the Krishna water required to cater to the drinking water needs of the people of Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Nalgonda, Guntur and Prakas-am districts. The court said it had no concern with politics, only with equal distribution of water to all the regions of the state.
A Division Bench, comprising acting Chief Jus-tice P.C. Ghose and Just-ice Vilas V. Afzulpurkar, was dealing with petitions seeking a direction to the state government to not release water from Nagarjunasagar to the Krishna Delta if the water level in the reservoir was below 510 feet. D. Prakash Reddy, senior counsel arguing for the petitioners, brought to the notice of the court that the water levels at Srisailam and Nagarju-nasagar reservoirs may not be sufficient to fulfill drinking water needs till June 30, 2012. He said that they had come across a report from the Chief Engineer of the Irrigation department to this effect and urged the court to call for an update on the status of the water levels in the reservoirs.
Durga Prasad, counsel appearing for the farmers of the Krishna Delta, alleged that the petitioners who had moved the plea had political motives. Justice Ghose’s response was that they had nothing to do with the politics of the matter. Advocate-general A. Sudarshan Reddy said that there was enough water currently to take care of drinking and irrigation needs. The Bench told him to submit a status report within three weeks on the supply of Krishna water to the people of six districts, including the twin cities.
Stay on film’s release set aside
The AP High Court on Monday allowed the release of the Telugu film Sorry Teacher by setting aside an interim order granted by a single judge. Earlier a single judge had granted stay on the release of the film stating that the student-teacher relationship shown in the film was against the rules governing film censoring. He stated that the role of the teacher in Indian society was different. He felt that the film should not be released and granted interim orders.
Aggrieved by the stay, the filmmakers moved an appeal before a Division Bench contending that the order was not in accordance with the law and the HC should not act as an appellate authority over the order of the Censor Board. The Bench allowed the plea of the movie makers.
HC notices on seafront works
Justice G. Bhavani Prasad of the AP High Court on Monday issued notices to the state government, Greater Visak-hapatnam Municipal Corporation and Visakh-apatnam Urban Develop-ment Authority on a plea challenging the constructions on the seafront in the name of Hinduja Thermal Power Plant.
The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Visakha Zilla Sampr-adaya Matshya Karmika Union represented by its president O. Bosanna and another, stating that the constructions were being carried out without permissions. They said that the fishermen were being adversely affected due to these constructions on the seafront. The case has been adjourned to October 8.
Verdict on bail plea today
Justice Govindarajulu will deliver orders on Tuesday on the bail applications of suspended judges T. Pattabhirama Rao and K. Lakshmi Narasimha Rao and Bellary city MLA Gali Somasekhara Reddy, accused in the cash-for-bail scam involving former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy.
The judge will also deliver his decision on the ACB's plea, seeking cancellation of bail granted to Ravi Chandra and Aditya, two other accused in the case.
Order on Apollo admission list
A Division Bench, comprising Justice V. Eswa-raiah and Justice Ravi Shankar, on Monday directed the Apollo Med-ical College to submit the merit list of the students who got admission under the management quota. The Bench was dealing with a plea by M. Yashaswee Reddy and four other aspirants for the seats under the management quota, stating that they had submitted their applications in response to the advertisement put out by the medical college.