Tamil Nadu on May 6 informed the Supreme Court that the Centre has still not released disaster relief funds due to the State to help the people tide over the twin calamities of cyclone Michaung and unprecedented floods in the southern districts.
Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, senior advocate P. Wilson, for the State, sought an urgent hearing of its case.
“National disaster relief funds have not been released to Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Wilson submitted.
Tamil Nadu has filed a suit accusing the Union government of treating the people of the State in a “step-motherly” fashion by delaying the release of disaster relief funds to the tune of nearly ₹38000 crore sought by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
Mr. Wilson said Karnataka had similarly moved the court on the Centre’s delay in release of drought relief.
On April 29, Attorney General R. Venkataramani said the Centre had allotted over ₹3400 crore to Karnataka to provide relief to the drought-affected parts of the State. The case had come up before a Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai on Monday, but was adjourned to after the summer vacations.
Seeking an early hearing, Mr. Wilson, in his oral mentioning, indicated that there was no justification in delaying the release of funds.
“We will deal with it (early listing),” Chief Justice Chandrachud assured.
The Tamil Nadu suit alleged “differential treatment in the release of funds in comparison to other States is tantamount to class discrimination. It violates the fundamental rights of those who have suffered due to calamities and faced greater hardships and irreparable losses”.
“This step-motherly treatment violates the National Disaster Management Policy, including financial relations and the federal nature of tax division by unfairly allocating funds to some states over others,” Tamil Nadu submitted.
The original suit filed by the State under Article 131 of the Constitution had followed Mr. Stalin’s response about the lack of adequate flood relief from the Centre after Prime Minister Narendra Modi commented, ahead of the General Elections, about the Congress “callously giving away” strategic Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka and Mr. Stalin’s party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, doing “nothing” to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s interests.
The State submitted it had sent a representation to the Union as early as on December 14 last year for ₹19,692.69 crore as financial aid to tide over the extensive damage caused by the cyclone. There has been no action forthcoming from the Centre despite a representation submitted by the State on December 14, 2023 through the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Again, both Chief Minister Stalin and the Chief Secretary had sent representations on December 19 last year and January 10, 2024 for release of ₹18,214.52 crore to aid in the restoration and rehabilitation of lives hit by the unprecedented and extremely heavy rainfall and ensuing floods in the southern districts in December 2023. The Centre has not taken a final decision on the assistance to the State from the National Disaster Response Fund even after a lapse of almost three months from the date of submission of memoranda.
“Therefore, there is no valid reason or justification to delay the disbursement of funds to Tamil Nadu when all the required formalities are fulfilled as per the guidelines and the Disaster Management Act of 2005,” the State has argued.
