HYDERABAD: The contents of the principal finance secretary’s report — on budgetary support to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) — are highly misplaced and vague, the Telangana High Court said on Tuesday, adding that jugglery of financial figures was improper, and bureaucrats are too clever in fudging figures.
The court directed the corporation’s managing director in-charge to appear before it on Friday with authentic and verified information, including the government’s dues to the TSRTC and reimbursement claim amounts.
“When the state government is committed to spend Rs 100 crore for development of a city (Huzurnagar, where a bypoll was held recently) with a population of about 10 lakh, why can’t it allocate Rs 47 crore to fulfil four minimum demands of the striking employees of the state? Is the government interested in the city or the state?” the court asked.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy, also impleaded the Central government in the case to respond on issues pending before it to divide assets and liabilities of the erstwhile APSRTC between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The court had earlier asked advocate general (AG) BS Prasad to inform it by Tuesday if the government was willing to release at least Rs 47 crore. In response, the AG said the state doesn’t owe a single pie to the TSRTC.
The bench pointed out that under budgetary allocation, the principal secretary did not mention the amount allocated for reimbursement. On the one hand, the government claims it has made all arrangements to augment the sufferings of the common man by providing maximum number of buses, but on the other hand, it extended holidays to educational institutions due to the strike, which itself was a contradictory statement, the bench said.
The court made this observation while hearing a batch of petitions seeking, among other things, a direction to the government to form an independent committee on the TSRTC strike, and to take a decision on the striking employees’ grievances based on the committee’s recommendations. The bench posted the matter to Nov 1 for further hearing. The bench directed the in-charge managing director of TSRTC Sunil Sharma to appear before it.