State is morally bankrupt: CJ
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Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur observed on Tuesday that there was a complete breakdown of governance in the state. The CJ, together with Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a writ appeal by the state government challenging an order of a single judge that Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority must repay Rs 90 crore to a real estate firm. The Authority claimed that it did not have the necessary funds and the amounts collected in other auctions were re-quired to run the VUDA.
Counsel appearing for the real estate firm, Devona Infra Ltd, told the court that VUDA had Rs 349 crore in its bank account and yet claimed it could not repay its client. Reacting to this, Justice Lokur said, “You need money of the citizens to run your affairs? Is this the way you run the government? You are morally bankrupt. This is nothing but extortion and petty robbery. Nowadays, we are witnessing that the ACB and the CBI are after you, and now, the common man will also be after you; you should be ashamed of this state of affairs.”
The facts of the case are that Devona Infrastru-cture Ltd bid to purchase 28 acres pursuant to a notice of VUDA. It succeeded in the bid and paid Rs 87.63 crore. VUDA failed to hand over all 28 acres to Devona, and gave possession of just 19 acres. The case went to the HC and a single judge directed VUDA to refund Rs 87.63 crore to the firm.
RTI circular on endowments suspended
Justice Nooty Rama Mohan Rao on Tuesday suspended the operation of a circular issued by the endowments commissioner applying the provisions of RTI Act to Charitable Hindu Religious and Endowments institutions. A member of the V.S Vara Prasad Founder Family Trust challenged the circular saying that the provisions of RTI Act cannot be made applicable to the Hindu Temples as they would amount to violation of Article 25 of the Constitution.
Bench admits Plea on state-GVK MoU
A Division Bench comprising Justice Ghulam Mohammad and Justice K.S. Appa Rao admitted a plea to set aside the MoU between the government and the GVK Group pertaining to entrusting ‘108’ EMRI services to the GVK. The bench had earlier sought the ‘note file’ of the MoU from the state government in a sealed cover. After perusing the note file, the bench felt that the matter can be adjudicated to decide the legality of the MOU and admitted the plea.
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