Parties Can Engage Private Expert In Commercial Suits But Admissibility Of Expert Report Subject To Proof At Trial: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has held that parties in civil and commercial disputes may rely on reports prepared by privately engaged experts, however the admissibility and evidentiary value of such reports would be tested during trial.A Division Bench of Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari and Justice Balaji Medamalli dismissed a civil revision petition filed by ISGEC Heavy Engineering Limited, which had challenged an order of the Commercial Court at Vijayawada permitting M/s FE Engineering to place on...

AP High Court Quashes Atrocity FIR, Says Private Monetary Dispute Can't Be Camouflaged As Caste‑Based Offences In Absence Of Ingredients

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a man accused of caste-based abuse under the SC/ST Act and insulting a woman's modesty, holding that the allegations did not disclose the essential ingredients of the offences alleged. The Court noted that the complaint did not allege that the purported caste-based insults were made "within public view" as required under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and observed that...

AP High Court Refuses To Interfere With Proposed Construction Of Public Toilet On Municipal Land, Directs Maintenance Of Hygiene

The Andhra Pradesh High Court declined to interfere with the proposed construction of a public toilet on Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation's land (GVMC) located adjacent to the petitioners residential property who had objected on the ground of apprehended loss of hygiene and utility. The court however asked the agency managing the toilets and the authorities to ensure that toilets...

'No One Has Right To Obstruct Public-Way: AP High Court Directs Adoni Municipality To Remove Encroachments From Layout Road In 5 Weeks

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed municipal authorities to remove encroachments from a 33-foot-wide layout road in Adoni after issuing show cause notices to the encroachers, holding that no person has a right to obstruct a public way and that private interests must yield to public interest.Justice Gannamaneni Ramakrishna Prasad while presiding over the case directed the...

AP High Court Remands Plea Seeking Enforcement Of Circular Barring Foreign-Returned Priests From Performing Temple Duties

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has set aside an order directing authorities to implement a 2010 Endowments Department circular barring archakas (priests) who had travelled abroad from performing Archakatwam in the Garbhalayam (sanctum sanctorum) of Sringeri Sharada Peetham. The court held that material facts and pending proceedings challenging the validity of the circular itself were not...

'Approached Court With Unclean Hands': AP High Court Rejects Review Plea After Finding Bidders Obtained Interim Orders By Suppressing Facts

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has dismissed a review petition filed by bidders in an agricultural market auction, holding that they had suppressed material facts and obtained interim orders despite being aware that the auction process had been completed and agreements executed with successful bidders. The Court found the review petition to be not maintainable and an abuse of process of...

Single Mother Can Apply For Child's Passport Without Father's Consent If Prescribed Declarations Are Filed: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has held that a single mother is entitled to apply for a passport for her minor child without the consent or signature of the father, provided the prescribed declarations under the Passport Rules are furnished.Under the Passport Rules, 1980, particularly Column 16 of the Guidelines for filling up passport application forms and Clause 4.8 of the...

AP Nurses Association Does Not Perform Public Functions, Writ Won't Lie Against Appointment Of Election Officer By State Govt: High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has dismissed two writ petitions filed by a nurse challenging the conduct of elections to the AP Government Nurses Association, holding that disputes relating to elections of a private society cannot be adjudicated in writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution.Justice Nyapathy Vijay held that the Andhra Pradesh Government Nurses Association is a...

Sriharikota Rocket Station Evacuees Are Assignees Of Govt Land Under GO, Can't Claim Absolute Ownership Based On Later Memo: AP High Court

Clarifying the legal status of lands assigned to Sriharikota Rocket Station evacuees under a 1970 rehabilitation scheme, the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that such persons were assignees of Government land with restricted rights and could not claim absolute ownership based on a subsequent memo or revenue entries.A Division Bench comprising Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari and Justice Maheswara...

S.13B(2) HMA | Continuation Of Cooling-Off Period Where Couple Conciously Decides To Part Ways Can Prolong Hardship: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has reiterated that the six-month cooling-off period under Section 13-B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, governing divorce by mutual consent, is directory and not mandatory, and may be waived where parties have genuinely settled all disputes and there is no possibility of reconciliation.Justice Venkateswarlu Nimmagadda, while clarifying the object of...

AP High Court Quashes Wantonly Provoking Rioting Charge Against 2 Over Social Media Post Alleging Ex-MLA's Son Was Arrested In Drugs Case

The Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the offence of 'wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot', lodged against two persons in connection with circulation of an allegedly false social media post in 2021 claiming that the son of a former MLA had been arrested in a drug case.The Court held that the offence under Section 153(Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot)...

Mere Presence Of Husband's Relatives At Marriage Ceremony Does Not By Itself Prove Instigation, Abetment To Commit Bigamy: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed a woman's plea challenging acquittal of certain relatives in a bigamy case, holding that mere presence of family elders at a second marriage, or their failure to prevent it, does not by itself establish abetment or instigation to commit bigamy.Section 494 IPC penalises bigamy, i.e., marrying again during the subsistence of a valid first marriage,...