THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTI CE NAMAVARAPU RAJESHWAR RAO WRI T PETI TI ON No.16602 OF 2025

ORDER:

This Writ Petition is filed challenging the action of respondent No.6 in issuing the Revised Recovery Proceedings vide Proc.No.FORM-V/2024-25/K3, dated 15.05.2025, directing recovery of an amount of Rs.23,07,150/- (Rupees Twenty Three Lakh Seven Thousand One Hundred Fifty only) from the salary of the petitioner in 150 monthly instalments of Rs.15,381/- each, commencing from May 2025, as being arbitrary, illegal, and violative of principles of natural justice.

2. Heard Sri Gundrati Raman Goud, learned counsel for the petitioner, and the learned Government Pleader for Services–I for the respondents. Perused the material on record.

3. The case of the petitioner is that while discharging duties as Forest Beat Officer in Udumpur Range, he booked various forest offence cases, including both detected and undetected offences, and issued Preliminary Offence Reports (PORs) accordingly. As per departmental practice and the Telangana Forest Offences, Compounding and Prosecution Rules, 1969, the procedure for seizure, custody, and transportation of forest produce is well defined. In the case of Undetected Offence Reports (UDORs), where the offenders could not be traced, the seized timber was required to be transported to the Government Timber Depot (GTD) under valid permit and invoice. It is submitted that the petitioner’s role was confined to issuing PORs and ensuring custody of the seized timber, while the issuance of permits and supervision of transportation to the depot was the responsibility of the Forest Section Officer or Forester.

4. It is further the case of the petitioner that respondent No.6, vide proceedings No.FORM-V/2024-25/K3 dated 15.05.2025, issued revised recovery orders directing recovery of an amount of Rs.23,07,150/- from the petitioner's salary in 150 instalments of Rs.15,381/- per month commencing from May 2025. The said recovery was based on reports submitted by Forest Range Officers of Khanapur and Kaddam Ranges, alleging failure to transport timber in several POR/UDOR cases involving 1273 logs (115.6051 cmt), resulting in pending case files and alleged loss to the Government. The petitioner submits that these discrepancies are due to long-standing administrative lapses and lack of proper record maintenance dating back to the year 2005, compounded by a shortage of ministerial staff. He further contends that he has since traced timber invoices showing that the timber was in fact transported to GTD Khanapur and received by the concerned Forester. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner filed the present writ petition.

5. Learned Government Pleader for Services–I, appearing for the respondents, placed on record a copy of the written instructions and the relevant portion of the said written instructions reads as under:

“Further, it is submitted that almost eight months’ time was given to the petitioner to transport the felled timber in his custody, as per FORM-V. However, he did not utilize this opportunity. Hence, there is no need to grant the petitioner an additional 6 to 9 months for this issue.”

6. On the other hand, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is ready to clear all the issues related to the transportation of timber as per FORM-V within a period of four months. However, he seeks the cooperation of the respondent authorities in providing the necessary records to facilitate the finalization of the said issue.

7. In view of the above submissions, this Court is of the opinion that the petitioner shall be granted four months’ time to complete the verification and reconciliation process pertaining to the transportation of seized timber and the Form-V records. The respondent authorities are directed to cooperate with the petitioner and provide necessary access to records and assistance for finalizing the issue. It is made clear that if the petitioner fails to complete the process within the said four mo