A.P. High Court dismisses PIL against ECI order barring volunteers from disbursing social welfare pensions

The PIL is not maintainable as the government has made necessary arrangements for disbursing pensions at the ward and village secretariats, and at the doorstep for those who are not in a position to collect the financial aid personally

Updated - April 03, 2024 08:45 pm IST - VIJAYAWADA

Pensioners waiting for their turn at a ward secretariat in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

Pensioners waiting for their turn at a ward secretariat in Vijayawada on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. GIRI

The High Court of Andhra Pradesh on April 3 (Wednesday) struck down a PIL filed by three women from Guntur district seeking declaration of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) order (dated March 30, 2024) barring the ward and village volunteers from distributing social security pensions, as violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, besides being against the principles of natural justice.

With that main contention, the petitioners wanted the court to direct the ECI to recall its instructions to the State Chief Electoral Officer to keep volunteers away from the distribution of pensions.

One of their arguments was that a petition filed by the Citizens for Democracy (CfD) in the High Court, which resulted in the court ruling that the ECI should restrain the volunteers from distributing pensions, was politically motivated.

The High Court was of the opinion that the PIL was not maintainable as the government made necessary arrangements for disbursing pensions at the ward and village secretariats and at the doorstep to those beneficiaries who could not personally come because of old age or physical disabilities.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.