Telangana High Court takes serious note of government affidavit wrongly quoting Article 162 in welfare schemes case

Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court expressed serious concern on Thursday about a government affidavit that incorrectly cited Article 162 of the Indian Constitution in a case seeking to suspend welfare schemes Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak. The affidavit, submitted by B. Bala Maya Devi, Principal Secretary to Government (Full Additional Charge) of Backward Classes Welfare Department, claimed that the affected government orders for implementing the welfare schemes were issued under Article 162 to promote social justice.

Article 162, according to the affidavit, grants the executive power of the State a capacity co-extensive and co-terminus with its legislative competence. Upon questioning the accuracy of the cited Article 162, Additional Advocate General Mohammed Imran Khan admitted it was an error, describing it as a typographical mistake. The judge promptly ordered the AAG to file a corrected affidavit.

Before directing the Finance Secretary to provide information on the government's approach to loans for maintaining welfare schemes, the judge also asked the AAG about the government's priority in fulfilling statutory obligations, such as compensating land losers and welfare benefits. The judge noted that some staff members at the Mahbubnagar court (the judge's administrative court) had not received salaries for four months.

While emphasizing the courts' limited role in the financial administration of the government, the judge acknowledged the importance of balancing financial matters with the administration of welfare schemes. The AAG challenged advocate Vijay Gopal's attempt to read out the representation of retired government employees who had not received their post-retirement benefits for months, arguing it amounted to political statements in the open court.

However, the petitioner and advocate maintained that his effort was to bring attention to the impact of welfare scheme debts on the State's ability to fulfill statutory obligations. The matter was adjourned till Monday for the next hearing.