Hyderabad: Despite final orders from the Central Administrative Tribunal, Telangana high court and Supreme Court, hundreds of superintendents and inspectors in the Hyderabad zone of Central Tax are still waiting for long-pending pay arrears, exposing serious administrative bottlenecks in the pay and accounts office (PAO), Hyderabad. While other zones have implemented the court rulings, arrear payments in Hyderabad are stuck for months due to repeated procedural objections, even after the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) issued instructions for expeditious clearance. The delay has affected over 1,000 serving and retired officers, with some employees yet to receive their Dec 2025 salaries owing to unresolved pay anomalies. A contempt case relating to non-implementation of court orders is also pending before the Telangana high court. Court orders ignoredIn a letter to the principal chief controller of accounts, CBIC, Delhi, the all India association of superintendents of central tax said that superintendents and inspectors had filed 11 original applications before the CAT, Hyderabad bench, seeking correction of pay scales. The association pointed out that CAT, in its common order dated Jan 9, 2024, directed notional pay fixation from Jan 1, 1996, with consequential arrears from April 21, 2004. The order was upheld by the Telangana high court on Aug 9, 2024, and the department’s special leave petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Feb 28, 2025.Although revised pay fixation orders were issued, arrear bills were drawn only for a small fraction of the 1,190 applicants, the association said, leaving payments pending for a large number of officers, including retirees. Bribery case casts shadow The association also referred to a CBI case arising from a complaint dated Aug 14, 2025, filed by a retired assistant commissioner. An FIR has been registered citing offences under the BNS and Prevention of Corruption Act.
