‘Being Treated Unfairly’, Tamil Nadu Moves SC for Disaster Relief Fund

The Tamil Nadu government has filed a suit before the Supreme Court against the Central Government, claiming that the Union was withholding the relief funds for natural calamities.

New Delhi:The Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to release financial assistance of Rs.19,692.69 crore in relation with the damage caused by cyclone “Michaung” in December 2023. The state’s plea has come close on the heels of a plea filed by Karnataka government seeking Rs 35,162 crore for drought relief in view of calamity of severe nature faced by it.

The Tamil Nadu government, in an original suit filed through the chief secretary, sought a direction from the court to the Centre to consider the representation made on December 26, 2023, submitted to Union Finance Minister, regarding release of a sum of Rs 18,214.52 Cr as financial assistance for the damage caused by the unprecedented extremely heavy rainfall in southern districts of Tamil Nadu on December 17-18, 2023, within a time frame.

The state government also sought a direction to consider a representation made on December 14, 2023 submitted through the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It sought release of Rs 2000 Cr as interim measure. The state government claimed that despite several requests’ funds were not being made available, which is a violation of fundamental rights of the affected people. The suit contended the IMCT visited cyclone-affected districts and the flood-affected southern districts and made a comprehensive assessment of the situation in the State

The suit was filed under Article 131 of the Constitution filed through senior advocate P Wilson Senior Advocate and standing counsel D Kumanan.

The suit said the inaction on the part of the government of India in not taking a final decision to release financial assistance to the state is ex-facie illegal, arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed to its citizens under Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

The state claimed that it is being treated unfairly by the defendants for not releasing the funds despite being assessed by the experts, IMCT, and sub-committee of National Executive Committee

The state government contended that the Union Government has not taken a final decision on the assistance to it from the National Disaster Response Fund even after a lapse of almost three months from the date of submission of memoranda.

The state government claimed there is no justification in delaying the release of funds. "The 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," it said.

The 15th finance commission which has allocated National Disaster Response Funds for the award period 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 has dealt with the additional financial assistance in the event of disaster of severe nature.

"This has been scrupulously complied by the plaintiff. Therefore, there is no valid reason or justification to delay the disbursement of funds to the plaintiff State when all the required formalities are fulfilled as per the guidelines and the National Disaster Management Act 2005," the plea said.