Court notice to state govtover defunct SC/ST panel

Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Tuesday issued a notice to the state asking it to explain its stand on a PIL questioning its inaction in constituting an SC/ST commission.A bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji was hearing a PIL filed by S Ganesh Rao and J Shankar from Secunderabad. The commission has been defunct for the last two years, the petitioners said, adding that this deprived the marginalised sections a grievance redressal platform. The bench, while seeking answers from the state, made it clear that the government should not cite the PIL as an excuse to not fill vacant posts in the commission. “There is no hindrance. You can fill the posts and make the commission functional even during the hearing of this plea,” the bench said. The case was posted for hearing onApril 13.