NEW DELHI: Noting that some states had recently approached it against the Union govt, Supreme Court on Monday said there should not be a contest between govts and agreed to examine a petition filed by Karnataka accusing the Centre of not releasing drought relief funds.
“Let there not be a contest between Union and state. We see various states approaching the court,” a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said.
Attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta said at the outset that the problem could have been resolved if someone from the state had raised the issue before the authority concerned.They told the bench that there was no need to issue notice on the state govt’s plea and they would take instruction and brief the court on the next date of hearing.
In its plea, the state said 223 talukas out of 236 in the state were under drought and crops in an area of 48 lakh hectares were lost. It claimed that no relief funds came from the Centre despite it sending three memoranda. The state has sought Rs 18,171 crore as drought relief.
“Our Constitution makes it imperative for the state to secure to all its citizens the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and where citizens are not able to assert and secure their rights, the state must come into the picture and protect and fight for the rights of citizens,” Karnataka govt said in its petition, justifying its decision to approach the SC under Article 32 relating to violation of fundamental rights.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, said the central govt was required to take a final decision on assistance to the state from NDRF within a month of the receipt of the inter-ministerial central team’s report and that period got over in December.
“Let there not be a contest between Union and state. We see various states approaching the court,” a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said.
Attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta said at the outset that the problem could have been resolved if someone from the state had raised the issue before the authority concerned.They told the bench that there was no need to issue notice on the state govt’s plea and they would take instruction and brief the court on the next date of hearing.
In its plea, the state said 223 talukas out of 236 in the state were under drought and crops in an area of 48 lakh hectares were lost. It claimed that no relief funds came from the Centre despite it sending three memoranda. The state has sought Rs 18,171 crore as drought relief.
“Our Constitution makes it imperative for the state to secure to all its citizens the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and where citizens are not able to assert and secure their rights, the state must come into the picture and protect and fight for the rights of citizens,” Karnataka govt said in its petition, justifying its decision to approach the SC under Article 32 relating to violation of fundamental rights.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, said the central govt was required to take a final decision on assistance to the state from NDRF within a month of the receipt of the inter-ministerial central team’s report and that period got over in December.
