Legal correspondent Hyderabad

TelanganaHigh Court single bench of Justice Natcharaju Venkata Shravan Kumar on Wednesday directed the State government to clear bills worth Rs. 51.35 crore to land losers within 12 weeks. The land was acquired for various government projects in Narayanpet district. The court described the order as a final opportunity to the State. The Judge heard a batch of six contempt petitions filed by the land losers, including CC 1831/2026 and CC 3599/2026. The petitioners gave their lands for development works. They are still waiting for compensation; sought a direction to the government to pay.

Justice Kumar took strong exception to the absence of Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Principal Secretary (finance). He is the contemnor in the cases; appeared only in virtual mode and not in person. The judge said this reflected the officers’ approach to court orders, especially in contempt cases; showed a casual attitude.

“Courts cannot be casual while dealing with contempt cases,” the judge observed. This applied all the more to matters concerning compensation to land losers.

Sultania told the court that the State’s financial position was precarious; it could not pay compensation at present. He sought six more months to pay. He informed tokens worth Rs. 40,000 crore have been issued.

The court did not accept the plea for more time; it directed the Finance Secretary to clear the bills within 12 weeks; to file a comprehensive additional affidavit giving details of payments made to land losers whose lands were acquired for various government projects. It must state the further time needed to clear the pending bills.