COMEUPPANCE: D. Swaroopa Rani being taken away from a special court in Hyderabad on Monday. PHOTO: K.RAMESH BABU

HYDERABAD: A special court here on Monday convicted 18 of the 35 accused persons in the sensational scholarship scam involving alleged embezzlement of funds worth Rs. 50 crore.

All the convicts were sentenced to 10-year imprisonment, except D. Swaroopa Rani who was handed down a five-year jail term. Ms. Rani is the wife of convict D. Shankar Rao, Accountant in Hyderabad District Social Welfare Office. Fines ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000 were also imposed on the convicts.

The Judge of the Special Court constituted to try the case of embezzlement of scholarships meant for students, T. Bhaktavatsalam, delivered the verdict around 11.30 a.m. even as several family members, relatives and friends of the accused waited outside the court with bated breath. With policemen not allowing outsiders inside the court hall, confusion and anxiety gripped family members and relatives of the accused persons. When the verdict was announced, some of them broke down.

Loopholes

Investigators explained that loopholes in sanctioning and disbursal of scholarships for students helped the convicts to misappropriate the funds. As per the then system, every educational institution head -- be it a college or school -- would approach the District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) concerned and submit a list of students requiring scholarships.

The DSWO would direct the Assistant Social Welfare Officer (ASWO) to verify the applications. The ASWO would go to the educational institution, physically verify the students, ascertain their identity and forward the applications to the DSWO who used to issue the sanction orders. These orders are sent to the Pay and Accounts office and subsequently the cheques are issued in the names of the principals of colleges and headmasters of the schools. They would in turn deposit the cheques in the bank and distribute the money among the students.

Hyderabad Detective Department Inspector S. Sharath Kumar, who investigated the case, said R. Mothya Naik, Warden in Social Welfare Department, was familiar with the procedure of sanctioning scholarship by virtue of his job. While he floated 17 bogus colleges and eight bogus schools, Shankar Rao floated another five fake colleges. All of them submitted applications for scholarships in the names of students and colleges that never existed and embezzled funds.

The names of convicts are as follows: R. Mothya Naik, Warden in Social Welfare Department; D. Shankar Rao, Accountant in Hyderabad District Social Welfare Office; Ratilal Lalji Praveen

Chander Auditor in Pay and Accounts Office; Kadimi Venkateswar Rao, Superintendent in P&A office; Uradi Santosh Kumar, District Social Welfare Officer in Social Welfare Department; Malyala Anjaiah, District Backward Classes Welfare Officer; Gandla Indrasena, Superintendent in P&A office; Ch. Suryanarayana, Assistant Pay and Accounts Officer; Arisetty Prasada Rao, Retd. Assistant Pay and Accounts Officer; Bhatla Penumurthi Seshagiri Rao, Assistant Pay and Accounts Officer; D. Swaroopa Rani, Wife of D. Shankar Rao; Tangiralla Venakta Sastry, Assistant Pay and Accounts Officer; Bale Sudhakar Superintendent in P&A office; Dinavahi Venkata Satyanarayana Pratap, Branch Manager of State Bank of Patiala; Krishna Kumar, Deputy Pay and Accounts Officer; Pamula Gangadharam, Retd. District Tribal Welfare Officer; Ganesh Rathod, Junior Assistant in Tribal Welfare Office; Kotla Venkata Lakshmana Jayasimha, Advocate.

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