Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday, October 9, told the state education department that fines on officials mean little unless they come out of someone’s own pocket, as it imposed Rs 25,000 on the department for taking 250 days to file an appeal.
According to The Times of India, a division bench of acting Chief Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Nandikonda Narsing Rao said that unless the amount is recovered from somebody’s salary, the officials concerned “will not feel the pain” and will not be more alert next time.
The bench directed the principal secretary of the education department to inquire into the reasons for the delay and, if necessary, recover the fine from the officials responsible.
The department had come to the court seeking condonation of the 250-day delay in challenging a September 2025 order of a single judge, and wanted that order suspended. When the bench asked why the appeal was moved so late, the department’s counsel said the delay was due to vacation. The bench asked whether the officials concerned had been on such a long vacation.
The court then said it would hear the appeal only if a fine was paid. It first set the amount at Rs 50,000, payable to the Telangana State Legal Services Authority within two weeks. After the department’s counsel pleaded for leniency, the bench brought it down to Rs 25,000. When counsel sought a further reduction, the bench remarked in a lighter vein that it would not be right to impose smaller fines on the mighty state.
The single-judge order at the centre of the appeal had gone in favour of a deceased employee. It directed the education department to immediately absorb him into grant-in-aid vacancies from his initial date of appointment. A grant-in-aid vacancy is a job for which the state or central government provides partial or full salary support.
The bench set aside the single-judge order and adjourned the appeal for further hearing.
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