Let us do what’s best for Kerala, says High Court

Reena Abraham, the petitioner’s counsel, submitted the amount in CMDRF could be disbursed at the discretion of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers.

Kerala High Court(File photo)

KOCHI: Reena Abraham, the petitioner’s counsel, submitted the amount in CMDRF could be disbursed at the discretion of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers. If the fund, donations, and people’s contributions are utilised for any other purpose, it will amount to misappropriation. Last year, the Cabinet had sanctioned Rs 25 lakh from the CMDRF to the family of an NCP leader.
The petitioner also pointed out the misappropriation of the tsunami fund and cited the inquiry commission’s report which said, “While tsunami-affected districts of Alappuzha and Kollam figure high in expenditure, some unaffected districts like Kottayam, Idukki and Wayanad also show high expenses.”

Advocate General C P Sudhakara Prasad submitted the amount received in CMDRF towards flood relief won’t be diverted. To this, the court said there may apprehensions in people’s minds regarding the fund’s utilisation. “The amount and the material collected after August 15 for relief should be used for that purpose only. There should be a mechanism to ensure the amount is spent properly. For this, the entire process should be made transparent. This will ensure the fund reaches the right beneficiaries. Donors will then feel confident about contributing to the funds in future, too,” it said.

Prasad said the allegation that Ockhi fund was diverted was baseless. Not a single penny given to CMDRF will be diverted.Though Reena Abraham cited the Gujarat High Court judgment pertaining to the utilisation of flood relief fund, the court observed there was no need to link the Gujarat case with the present issue.

“Let us do what is best for Kerala,” observed the court, which also relied upon the assurance given by Prasad and said the circumstances in Kerala were peculiar than other states.

Court’s poser on monitoring relief collection
The High Court has enquired whether there is any mechanism to monitor the collection of flood relief fund and materials by NGOs and other private parties, including media houses. The government replied that it couldn’t prevent NGOs and others from collecting money. The state will ensure the money collected towards flood relief is duly transferred to the said fund.

Loans by global players would be ideal for state
T’Puram: Economist B A Prakash said loans extended by global players were ideal as they were long-term assistance with minimum interest. He opined the Salary Challenge or donations alone cannot help tide over the crisis. Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said there was no contra-diction in his party’s stand. “We weren’t against foreign assis-tance per se. What we oppose are loan conditions against the state’s interests and intervention of other agencies,” he said.