Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has granted temporary relief to rice millers against whom the state government had initiated action under the Telangana Revenue Recovery Act. During a hearing on October 21, 2024, concerning four writ appeals, the court scheduled the next hearing for November 5.

Until further notice, the court ordered that the rice millers’ immovable assets cannot be transferred or sold.

In August, a single-judge bench ruled in favour of the rice millers, stating that the civil supplies corporation had not followed due process when issuing distraint orders. These orders were made after discrepancies were found in the quantity of paddy and rice delivered as custom milled rice during the 2022-23 marketing season.

However, the respondents claimed that the torrential rains during that period led to significant damage to the paddy crop across the state. As a result, the state government supplied more paddy than the millers could handle, leading to issues in storing and milling.

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During the hearing on the appeal, the advocate general argued that the respondents were not entitled to any further notice before recovery actions and that any leniency towards them would be an abuse of the legal process.

The respondents’ counsel argued that the Civil Supplies Corporation, being a party to the agreements for delivering custom milled rice, could not act as both judge and party in the recovery proceedings. They stressed that the arbitration clause required an independent adjudication of the dues.

Additionally, they contended that distraint orders couldn’t be issued against directors or shareholders for the liabilities of other companies. One respondent also cited a government order enforcing a 90-day moratorium on recovery actions, which was still in effect.

The court granted the advocate general a short accommodation to clarify whether any notice was issued to the respondents, and in the meantime, ordered that no alienation of immovable assets by the respondents should take place till the next hearing.

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