"Let There Not Be Contest...": Supreme Court On Centre, State Funds Row
NDTV
A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta gave Attorney General R Venkatramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the centre, two weeks to seek instructions.
The Supreme Court on Monday expressed concern over recent instances in which state governments had approached it seeking directions against the centre, and called on both sides to cooperate rather than compete. "Let there not be a contest between the union and states," the court said as it heard a writ petition by Karnataka government for release of drought relief funds by the centre.
The petition claims the centre has not extended financial assistance to the Karnataka government in view of a drought in multiple districts, and that it has been constrained to move the court since the failure to disburse funds had violated the fundamental rights of the people of the southern state.
The state also argued the centre had not yet acted on an inter-ministerial team's report on the drought-related disaster for nearly six months (it was filed October), and that the situation has been aggravated because of "withholding of NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund) benefits".
