HC declines to vacate stay on Kalyana Lakshmi, Shaadi Mubarak

HC declines to vacate stay on Kalyana Lakshmi, Shaadi Mubarak Published – August 19, 2026 10: 04 pm IST – HYDERABAD.

Key points

• The AAG remarked the State Cabinet had approved the budgetary allocations to the welfare schemes and it would prioritise payment of compensation to land losers.
• He remarked the stay order forced the administration to stop disbursement of funds to the beneficiaries under the two schemes being enforced through eight Administration Orders (GOs).
• The administration had filed the petition to vacate the stay passed by the judge.
• Was it not the statutory responsibility of the State to ensure the land losers obtained the compensation when it was earmarking budget for welfare schemes, the judge asked.
• He additionally informed the bench that he was receiving threats from unidentified persons over filing the petition challenging the welfare schemes.

Meanwhile, the Telangana High Court on Wednesday declined to vacate the order staying operation of State government's Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak schemes and disbursement of funds to beneficiaries under the two schemes.

Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar, who passed the stay order on August 12 after hearing a writ petition filed by HC advocate Vijay Gopal challenging constitutional validity of the schemes, adjourned the hearing to Thursday. The judge additionally directed social media platforms to delete the content filed by a website Telugu Scribe after the advocate filed an interim application stating that the website was posting misleading content over his plea questioning operation of the two welfare schemes.

In practice, the administration had filed the petition to vacate the stay passed by the judge. When the matter came up for hearing during the post lunch session, the judge initially declined to hear the stay vacate plea. The Extra Advocate General Mohammed Imran Khan, even so, persuaded the bench to hear the matter contending there was an element of urgency.

He remarked the stay order forced the administration to stop disbursement of funds to the beneficiaries under the two schemes being enforced through eight Administration Orders (GOs). This had affected the beneficiaries and created a logjam of sorts in implementation of the two welfare schemes, the AAG remarked. The judge sought to know from the AAG why the administration was not evincing similar interest in paying compensation to citizens who had given up their lands for irrigation and other projects.

"Imagine the plight of the land owner who has given his land to the State and awaiting compensation for years while the State says there is no money as it is grappling with the financial crunch, " the judge remarked. Was it not the statutory responsibility of the State to ensure the land losers obtained the compensation when it was earmarking budget for welfare schemes, the judge asked. "Why is the State not prioritising paying compensation to land losers and why priority was being given to welfare schemes, " the judge remarked.

Notably, the AAG remarked the State Cabinet had approved the budgetary allocations to the welfare schemes and it would prioritise payment of compensation to land losers. The petitioner and advocate Vijay Gopal, in his interim application, stated that Telugu Scribe was posting misleading content projecting his petition as a conspiracy to stall the welfare schemes.

He additionally informed the bench that he was receiving threats from unidentified persons over filing the petition challenging the welfare schemes. The arguments will continue on Thursday.

Taken together, the developments around HC declines to vacate stay on Kalyana Lakshmi, Shaadi Mubarak point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.