Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to submit a status report on the installation of CCTV cameras in jails and police stations, in line with the Supreme Court’s directives. The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by Advocate Tandava Yogesh, who had originally filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in 2019, seeking the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2015 orders. The case was previously disposed of after the court ordered the installation to proceed in phases, but the non-compliance led to the contempt petition. The government has been asked to report on its progress and the next hearing has been scheduled for next month.
In another development, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has instructed the state government to make certain private school details publicly available. This includes information such as government-approved tuition fees, teacher qualifications, infrastructure, and recognition status, in response to a PIL filed by Yogesh. The petitioner claimed that private schools were not adhering to the norms set out in the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The court emphasized that private schools must upload these details, including data for over 14,500 schools, onto the school education department’s website. The case will be further heard on December 4.
The court also addressed a petition from Home Guards seeking eligibility for the police constable recruitment process. In a ruling on Friday, the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the police recruitment board to permit Home Guards to take the physical fitness and written tests without applying reservation criteria. The Home Guards had requested that they be considered a special category for police recruitment. The next hearing on this case is scheduled for November 25.
These rulings reflect the court’s active involvement in ensuring compliance with various legal and administrative norms in the state, impacting issues ranging from transparency in private education to police recruitment and jail management.
