Vijayawada: Several senior IAS and IPS officers appeared in person before the High Court in two contempt of court cases here on Wednesday.
Single judge Justice Bhattu Devanand held the hearing in a contempt of court case.
Petitioner R.V. Papa Rao, working as an attender at Sri Kandukuri Rajyalakshmi College for Women in Rajahmundry, stated that despite the High Court direction to implement full-time scale to him in 2018, it was not implemented. Endowments commissioner Arjuna Rao and collegiate education special commissioner M. M. Nayak, college correspondent Ramamohan Rao appeared before the court. However, as collegiate education regional joint director David Kumar failed to appear before it, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him and directed Rajahmundry Urban SP to produce him in person before the court in the next hearing that is posted for February 15.
In another case, home principal secretary Kumar Vishwajeet, DGP Goutam Sawang and IG Mahesh Chandra Laddha appeared before the court in person.
One V. Rama Rao filed a contempt of court petition stating that in spite of a court direction to promote him (an SI) as CI, it was not implemented.
When the judge asked as to who was responsible for failing to implement its direction, senior police officers informed that there was some delay in taking legal opinion on the issue.
The judge observed that though it was painful to summon the DGP to appear before the court. He said that subordinate officials were misguiding him. Later, the court gave exemption to the three officials from appearing in person and posted the hearing to February 25.
Meanwhile, the High Court will hear a petition seeking issue of stay order on notification for conduct of gram panchayat polls on Thursday.
A student identified as Dhulipalla Akhila hailing from Guntur filed a petition in the court seeking its intervention stating that the panchayat polls were to be held on the basis of electoral rolls prepared in 2019 and not on latest rolls prepared in 2021 resulting in deprival of right to vote to 3.62 lakh first-time voters in the state.