By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala High Court has administered a stinging rebuff to the Union Government for its callous attitude to the victims of the Wayanad landslide disaster.
In an unusually strong-worded judgment, the court has condemned the Union Government’s reluctance to waive loans taken by the people affected by the 2024 landslides in Wayanad. It orally observed that the Centre has failed the people of Kerala.
It has become clear to the court that the Union Government is in no mood to exercise its discretion to direct the banks concerned to waive the repayment of the loan amounts, observed a Division Bench of Justice A. K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian. By refusing to use its discretion, the Union Government has virtually let the people of Wayanad down, the court said, adding that it cannot remain a mute spectator to the “Shylockian methods” resorted to by the banks concerned to recover the loans.
The court flatly refused to accept the Centre’s stand that it is powerless to act in such situations as this. Article 73 of the Constitution makes it clear that the executive power of the Union shall extend to matters with respect to which Parliament has powers to make laws. Being the repository of such vast powers, the Centre, the court said, should have considered itself constitutionally obligated to act in a responsible manner to protect the “Right to Life” of the victims of a natural disaster which it had categorized as “severe” under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
What is simply unacceptable is the double standards adopted by the Centre in sanctioning funds. In support of its order, the court said the Union Government had approved Rs 707 crore in aid, by way of additional central assistance to Assam and Gujarat – both ruled by BJP Governments – which were affected by flood and landslides in 2024. The Centre also sanctioned an amount of Rs 903. 67 crore to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana – BJP-ruled States – for modernization of the fire service! The financial help sought in Wayanad through a loan waiver is a mere fraction of this amount.
The court further said the federal principle envisaged under the Constitution does not permit such differential treatment. Party politics cannot negate the constitutional guarantee of protection of the fundamental rights of the people in a democratic republic, the court noted.
The court then issued various directions to the banks, including keeping in abeyance any recovery action, if any initiated by the additional respondent banks, against the landslide victims, pending final disposal of the writ petition.
Through its affidavit, the Union Government had argued that though the Reserve Bank of India directives on relief measures by banks in areas affected by natural calamities provide effective ways to redress grievances and to grant relief to the affected people, there is no provision for loan waiver! The Union Government conveniently forgets that rules are meant to help the people and not to deny them the same.
In a severe reprimand, the court observed that the Centre should say, if it has the guts, that it is not interested in helping the Wayanad victims. Let the people know that the Union Government will not extend any help in situations such as this. That was the caustic comment of the High Court.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the matter. The Chief Minister is also planning to visit Delhi to meet the Prime Minister.
In his statement issued a few days earlier, Pinarayi urged the Modi Government to end the injustice and neglect towards Kerala and provide the necessary assistance to the Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster victims in Wayanad. The CM took strong exception to the five-month delay by the Centre in declaring the disaster a “disaster of severe nature”. This resulted in diminishing the prospects of availing international assistance. Only Rs 260. 56 crore was sanctioned as against Kerala’s request for a Rs 2221.03 crore assistance for reconstruction and rehabilitation, the Chief Minister pointed out, adding that the amount is not even one eighth of our actual requirement. (IPA Service)
