HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court is examining allegations of corruption in the allotment of houses under the Indiramma Housing Scheme in Mulugu district. The case arose from a letter written to the Chief Justice by Thippala Saibhavani, a widow from Mulugu district. The court converted the letter into a PIL. In her complaint, Saibhavani alleged that officials at the mandal and village levels ignored her application for a house under the scheme. She claimed that instead of conducting a proper verification to identify eligible beneficiaries, officials carried out a fake survey.
She further alleged that houses were being allotted to those who paid bribes ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The petitioner also alleged that the money collected was being circulated as microfinance loans at high interest rates by certain officials. She claimed that leaders and workers of the ruling party, along with panchayat officials, were involved in collecting money.
A bench comprising Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda issued notices to the chief secretary, principal secretary (housing), Mulugu collector, CBI director and the secretary of Venkatapuram gram panchayat, directing them to respond within three weeks.