SC seeks details from states on funds made available by Centre
New Delhi: Concerned over lack of adequate judicial infrastructure in the country, the Supreme Court Tuesday sought details from states about the funds made available to them under centrally sponsored schemes and the amount they have disbursed for the judiciary in the last five years.
The apex court asked state law secretaries to file affidavits giving details, including about the amount of money which remains to be provided to the state and district judiciary or was diverted for other projects.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked the law secretaries to complete the exercise within four weeks and place the affidavit on record.
The Law Secretaries to the state governments shall also submit their responses on affidavit specifically clarifying for the financial years 2017-18 to 2021-22: the extent of funds which have been made available to the state under centrally sponsored schemes; the amount which has been disbursed by the State government for the state and district judiciary; the amount which remains to be provided to the state and district judiciary or was diverted for other projects; and details of the utilization certificates, the bench said in its order.
The top court is dealing with a matter pertaining to the judiciary where various aspects including judicial infrastructure and vacancies are being deliberated upon.
While hearing the matter in December last year, the top court had asked the Centre not to leave the high courts at the mercy of state governments for funding judicial infrastructure and to develop a centralised mechanism where the money goes directly to them as per their needs.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the apex court observed, At present, what we will do is, let the high courts as well as the states respond to this....and we will also ask the states to make a disclosure of how much money, which they have received from the centrally sponsored schemes, they have actually spent in the last five years."
