Hyderabad:The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to take necessary steps without further delay to commence and complete the construction of the proposed Integrated District Court Complex at Jogulamba Gadwal.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao also directed the government to provide basic amenities, including separate washrooms for women advocates, litigants and court staff, at the existing District Court premises pending completion of the new complex.
The bench was disposing of a public interest litigation filed by advocate K. Shafiulla, who highlighted the prolonged delay in taking up construction despite the government having sanctioned and handed over 10 acres of land at Survey No. 368 in Pudur for the project.
The petitioner pointed out that the government had sanctioned the land through GO Ms. No. 52 in 2022, and handed over possession to the judicial department on June 8, 2022. Subsequently, the government accorded administrative sanction of `81 crore through GO Rt. No. 597 for construction of a 10+2 court complex, including the family court and Pocso court. A revised administrative sanction of `99.28 crore was also sought.
The construction work was entrusted to KMV Projects Ltd. with a stipulated completion period of 24 months. Despite the completion of several administrative formalities and the land being handed over to the roads and buildings department in May 2026, construction had not commenced.
HC directs Finance Principal Secretary to pay the interest amount for delayed payment of retirement benefits or to appear before the court
Hyderabad:The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to pay interest due to a retired sub-inspector for the delay in disbursing his retirement benefits. The court cautioned Sandeep Kumar Sultania, principal secretary finance, that he would have to appear before the court if the amount was not paid and a compliance report filed by December 4.
Justice T. Madhavi Devi was dealing with a contempt case filed by V. Bethi Kona Reddy, retired sub-inspector from Kamareddy district, over non-compliance of court’s earlier directions in his writ petition seeking release of his retirement benefits. He contended that although the authorities had finalised the bills and generated token numbers in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), the amounts were not released despite repeated requests.
Petitioner’s counsel pointed out that after the filing of the contempt case, the government had released the principal amount and failed to pay the interest as was specifically ordered by the court. Counsel for the finance department sought two weeks, stating that principal secretary had communicated that payment had been made in compliance with the court’s directions.
The dues included commutation of pension, gratuity, earned leave encashment and General Provident Fund, aggregating to over `55 lakh. While disposing the Reddy`s writ petition, the court had directed the government to release the entire amount expeditiously, preferably within six weeks. Importantly, it stipulated that in the event of failure to release the dues within that period, the entire retirement benefit amount would carry interest at 10 per cent per annum from the respective dates on which the amounts fell due until actual payment.
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