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Hyderabad: The Congress government on Wednesday, April 15, opposed the petitions filed by more than 360 rice millers in the Telangana High Court to quash paddy diversion cases against them.
The prosecution stated that the rice millers defaulted on payments Rs 3,960 crore, equivalent to the value of the entrusted stocks.
The state government argued that many of the accused millers diverted money from the misused paddy into various sectors, including film production, real estate investments, acquisition of assets and even the establishment of new mills in the names of family members.
The scam came to light during an inspection by the Telangana Civil Supplies Department. Representing the government, Public Prosecutor Palle Nageswar Rao argued that the defaults were deliberate and had severely strained the state’s finances, affecting the implementation of welfare schemes.
He cited the Supreme Court guidelines in a similar matter involving Bihar millers, stressing the requirement of furnishing bank guarantees before lifting paddy.
Rao said that according to the custom milling rice policy, millers are required to return milled rice within 15 days, but the accused have been delaying compliance since the 2022–23 financial year.
The court adjourned the matter for further hearing.
This post was last modified on April 16, 2026 4:35 pm