New Delhi: The Centre on Monday submitted before the Supreme Court that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has allowed it to render assistance to Karnataka to address the drought situation in certain areas of the state.
Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, submitted before a bench comprising justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta that no arguments are required in the matter now and some development would take place in the matter by next Monday. The AG stressed that the issue raised by the state government would be dealt with expeditiously and the ECI had allowed it to deal with it, while seeking adjournment.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Karnataka government, did not oppose the request for adjournment. The apex court said that it has to happen amicably, given the federal structure.
The apex court was hearing a plea by Karnataka government seeking a direction to Centre to release Rs 35,162 crore for drought relief in view of "grave humanitarian distress" and "calamity" of severe nature faced by it.
Karnataka government’s plea submitted that the action of the Central Government in denying the financial assistance to the State is ex- facie violative of the fundamental rights of the people of Karnataka guaranteed under Articles 14, 21 of the Constitution of India.
“Further, the impugned action of the Central Government is violative of statutory scheme of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Manual for Drought Management and the Guidelines on Constitution and Administration of the State Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Response Fund”, said the plea.
The Congress government said the Union government's Ministry of Home Affairs has failed to take a final decision and release the financial assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state for drought relief, though six months have lapsed since filing of a report by the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).
The plea contended that Karnataka is reeling under severe drought, affecting the lives of its people. “For the Kharif 2023 season (the season starts in June and ends in September), a total of 223 out of 236 taluks are declared as drought-affected, with 196 taluks categorized as severely affected and the remaining 27 categorized as moderately affected”, said the plea.
The plea contended that the doctrine of parens patriae recognises the State as protector of its citizens particularly when citizens are not able to protect themselves. "Agriculture is a primary source of livelihood for a large section of state. The present drought situation has damaged crops and affected livestock, leading to lower yields, reduced income for farmers, and increased food prices. The situation has a major economic impact resulting from losses in agriculture, impacting jobs, incomes, and overall economic growth of the State," it said.
The state government contended that there was an inordinate delay by the MHA in convening a high level committee meeting to approve the quantum of relief from NDRF.
The plea filed by advocate D L Chidananda contended the Centre's action in not releasing the financial assistance for drought arrangement as per the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) is ex-facie illegal, arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed to its citizens under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
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