Telangana HC Orders Annual Audit of Civil Court Deposit Accounts After Gadwal Compensation Scam

The Telangana High Court has directed the Registry to implement a stringent annual audit and reconciliation mechanism for Civil Court Deposit (CCD) accounts across district courts, taking serious note of the large-scale misappropriation of land acquisition compensation funds deposited in district judiciary accounts.

A Division Bench comprising Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda issued the directions while hearing a writ petition filed by Kurva Hanumanthu, a project oustee whose compensation remained unpaid following the exposure of a multi-crore CCD account scam in the Court of the Principal Senior Civil Judge, Gadwal.

The High Court directed yearly reconciliation of court account books, verification of CCD account statements with registers and D-forms issued by the land acquisition officer, and mandatory annual updating of records by the concerned civil courts. Compliance reports are to be forwarded to the Principal District Judge concerned and the High Court Registry.

Hanumanthu’s 7.12 acres of land were acquired in 2008 for the construction of the Ryalampad Balancing Reservoir. Since a title dispute existed, the compensation amount was deposited before the Civil Court at Gadwal in 2012. After prolonged litigation, Hanumanthu was declared the lawful owner in 2017. However, payment remained pending till 2026 amid allegations that more than ₹3.08 crore had been siphoned off from CCD accounts during the tenure of a former senior superintendent between 2015 and 2022 through alleged manipulation of court records and repayment registers.

Aggrieved by the continued non-payment, Hanumanthu approached the High Court. Allowing his cheque petition, the Bench directed the authorities to release the compensation amount along with accrued interest within three months.

The Court observed that judicial claimants, particularly land losers awaiting compensation, cannot be made to suffer because of financial irregularities within court administration. It further held that cheque petitions relating to compensation deposits should not be indefinitely withheld merely due to pending investigations, especially where the deposits predated the scam period and the claimant’s entitlement had already attained finality through judicial orders.

The Bench also directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Mahbubnagar Range, to ensure that any amount recovered from the officer concerned is redeposited into the CCD account of the Principal Civil Court concerned.