Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday, August 20, refused to lift the stay on the Kalyan Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak schemes that were launched to provide financial assistance for marriage to eligible beneficiaries.
Justice NV Shravan Kumar was hearing a writ petition filed by Advocate Vijay Gopal, challenging the legal validity of the schemes.
According to a report in the NewsMeter, the petitioner stated that the schemes were being implemented through eight government orders issued from 2014 onwards, and since framing welfare schemes and fixing eligibility criteria are essentially legislative functions, these schemes, introduced through executive orders, are arbitrary and contrary to Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) Mohammed Imran Khan, appearing for the state government, was questioned on the various aspects of the implementation of these schemes and the financial obligations arising from them.
The court also directed the Finance Department to file an affidavit on the state’s financial position and to explain whether any loans had been raised to continue these schemes.
The bench also expressed concern over delays in the payment of various welfare and statutory benefits, such as pending payments to land losers, beneficiaries of welfare measures, retired employees and government staff.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on August 24.
‘Stay affecting beneficiaries’
The AAG had brought up the matter during the post-lunch session on Wednesday as well, asking Justice NV Shravan Kumar to hear the matter as it was an urgent one, The Hindu reported.
The AAG said that the stay was affecting beneficiaries and was creating a logjam for disbursement of funds. In response, the judge asked why the government did not show similar interest in compensating citizens who had given up their lands for irrigation and other projects.
He asked why the state was not prioritising compensation to land losers and was only worrying about welfare schemes.
The AAG said that the state Cabinet had already approved the budget for these schemes and would also prioritise compensation to land losers.
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