Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the Kalyana Lakshmi Shaadi Mubarak schemes to continue. A division bench headed by the Chief Justice set aside the interim stay imposed by a single judge.
The bench heard an appeal filed by the Telangana government against the earlier order. The single judge had stayed implementation of the two welfare schemes.
The earlier order followed a petition filed by advocate Vijay Gopal in his individual capacity. He had challenged eight government orders issued since 2014 concerning the schemes.
The single judge granted the interim stay after the government did not file its counter in the case. The government then approached the division bench seeking relief.
Appearing for the State, Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy argued against continuing the stay. He said the schemes had operated since 2014 and their implementation did not affect the petitioner or violate his rights.
The Advocate General also pointed out that the petitioner was not a beneficiary of either scheme. Therefore, he argued that the petition did not meet the requirements of a public interest litigation.
Kalyana Lakshmi Shaadi Mubarak schemes cleared to continue
The Advocate General further argued that the petition could not proceed before a single judge. He said a division bench had jurisdiction over challenges involving government policy decisions.
Sudarshan Reddy also told the court that the Supreme Court had permitted schemes similar to Shaadi Mubarak. He argued that Kalyana Lakshmi also represented a welfare measure of a similar nature.
The government therefore sought removal of the interim stay. It argued that the two schemes should continue while the broader legal challenge remained under consideration.
After hearing the government’s submissions, the division bench accepted its arguments. The court consequently lifted the interim stay imposed by the single judge.
The Kalyana Lakshmi Shaadi Mubarak schemes can now continue following the division bench’s order.