Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday, April 30, declined to entertain a writ petition filed by senior BRS leader T Harish Rao over the alleged non-implementation of the farm loan waiver scheme in Siddipet constituency, while granting him the liberty to pursue the matter through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
The petition came up for hearing before Justice Surepalli Nanda, who observed that the issue raised relates to broader public interest and cannot be addressed through an individual writ petition seeking wide-ranging relief.
Petitioner’s arguments
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Ramavarapu Chandrasekhar Reddy argued that despite the chief minister’s assurance to waive farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh, several farmers were excluded on the grounds that their borrowings exceeded the limit.
He submitted that around 22,849 farmers from five mandals in Siddipet constituency had not benefited from the scheme and had been approaching the petitioner, the local MLA, with their grievances.
Govt counsel’s argument
The government’s counsel contended that the matter involves public interest and should be pursued as a PIL. Agreeing with this submission, the court declined to issue any directions on the writ petition.
When the petitioner’s counsel sought permission to convert the plea into a PIL, the court refused and advised withdrawal of the petition with liberty to file a fresh PIL. The petitioner’s counsel then agreed to withdraw the plea.
The court accordingly dismissed the petition while granting liberty to file a Public Interest Litigation on the issue.
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