Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court pulled up the state government over long-pending minority scholarship bills and sought a concrete action plan after finding that delays in the Finance Department were repeatedly denying relief to economically vulnerable students.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation on post-matric scholarships for minority students, a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G. M. Mohiuddin expressed strong displeasure over bureaucratic inaction. The bench noted that scholarship bills were getting stuck every year with the Finance Department, creating recurring hardship for students dependent on fee reimbursement.
Counsel for the petitioners, Syed Mounis Abidi, told the court that the Minority Welfare Department had filed its counter-affidavit only a day earlier, while the Finance Department had failed to file any response despite repeated opportunities. He submitted that funds sought by the Minority Welfare Department were still pending with the Finance Department.
The court observed that such delays had a cascading effect, with private colleges ignoring a government circular dated February 23, 2024, which instructed institutions not to withhold students’ original certificates pending reimbursement of fees.
Minority scholarship bills delay led to student hardship, HC observed
The bench noted that retention of certificates for months could cost students educational or employment opportunities that could not be restored later. It questioned how students studying on scholarships due to financial hardship were being forced to approach courts merely to secure the release of their certificates.
The judges also questioned the absence of enforcement and monitoring mechanisms, asking the government whether any grievance cell, toll-free number or help desk existed to ensure colleges complied with the circular. They observed that the lack of such a system was leading to unnecessary litigation, with students individually approaching courts or rights commissions.
The High Court granted the Finance Department two weeks to file its counter-affidavit and adjourned the matter to March 3, 2026, for further hearing. It also directed the Minority Welfare Department to put in place a robust grievance redressal mechanism so that students could resolve issues without resorting to litigation.
The PIL was filed by ASEEM and SIO Telangana, represented by advocates Syed Mounis Jafer Abidi and Syed Ghiyasuddin, seeking immediate release of pending scholarship amounts and a permanent system to prevent future delays.
