Griha Lakshmi Scheme Beneficiaries Can't Claim ₹2,000 Monthly Assistance As Of Right: Karnataka Govt Tells High Court
| Court orally rejected the argument saying State can't make all entitled beneficiaries come to court.
Picture by Sadiq Naqvi
The Karnataka Government has told the High Court that Griha Lakshmi Yojana is a benevolent scheme and the implementation of it largely depends upon the administrative exigencies and beneficiaries under the scheme cannot claim it as a matter of right and seek enforcement of said scheme through judicial interference.
In its statement of objections filed on Thursday in a public interest litigation filed by two beneficiaries under the scheme, the government said, “The existence of a benevolent scheme providing financial assistance does not by itself confer an indefeasible right upon the petitioner to claim such financial assistance on the basis of legitimate expectation, particularly when State is unable to disburse the financial assistance owing to genuine financial constraints.”
Further the government has in the objections said “The petitioners cannot claim financial assistance under a benevolent scheme as a matter of right, nor can such a claim be founded solely on the doctrine of legitimate expectation.”
The objections are filed by the state government while seeking dismissal of the petition filed by R Ganga and another. The petitioners have approached the court against the alleged failure by the state to disburse two monthly instalments of Griha Lakshmi Yojana to the women beneficiaries in February and March 2025, respectively.
The scheme promises Rs 2000 per month to female heads of households, subject to certain eligibility conditions. It was one of the five guarantee schemes assured by the present Congress Government in the State during the 2023, State Assembly elections.
A division bench of Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice K S Bharat Kumar which briefly heard the matter was informed by the government advocate that petitioners are beneficiaries and they cannot ask for release of amount for all other beneficiaries who are not before the court.
The bench orally rejected the argument saying you cannot make all the entitled beneficiaries come to court. Following which the government advocate said payments have not been made otherwise, for these two months.
The PIL alleges a lapse of approximately Rs 5000 crores from the public exchequer, affecting nearly 1.26 crore women beneficiaries. It also cites grave public interest and severe financial hardship suffered by women in Karnataka due to the non-disbursement of arrears.
The petitioners have sought a writ of mandamus directing the respondent authorities to release the arrears. Meanwhile, it is sought to direct the State to keep the money in escrow so that the funds are not diverted for other purposes.
The petition notes that the total expenditure under the scheme to date is approximately Rs 54,000 crores, of which only about Rs 46,000 crores has been disbursed, leaving a gap of roughly Rs 8,000 crores, with the February and March arrears forming a substantial part of those allocated funds.
The plea contends, has resulted in a breach of Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution. The State has also committed a breach of the doctrine of legitimate expectations after making periodic payments for over a year and halting them for the aforesaid months without valid justification, the plea adds. The court has directed the petitioners to file their rejoinder to the objections and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.