Justice Narasimha of Supreme Court said he has appeared in the matter of MGNREGA as a lawyer and the matter will have to be placed before the Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud for constitution of a fresh Bench.
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New Delhi: Justice P S Narasimha, a Supreme Court judge, withdrew from hearing a plea filed by a political party. The plea sought a directive from the Centre to ensure sufficient funds for states to execute the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The bench, presided over by Justices P S Narasimha and Aravind Kumar, encountered the matter.
Upon consideration, Justice Narasimha disclosed his prior involvement in the case as a lawyer. He indicated the necessity to refer the matter to Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud to constitute a new bench. Justice Narasimha was appointed to the Supreme Court from the bar on the collegium’s recommendation. Advocate Prashant Bhushan represented the petitioner party.
In the fresh plea by Swaraj Abhiyan, concerns were raised regarding the grave crisis faced by millions of workers under MGNREGA. The plea highlighted issues such as pending wages and negative balances across various states, amounting to a shortage of Rs 9,682 crore as of November 26, 2021. The plea emphasized the violation of the law due to the shortage of funds, citing a previous apex court judgment on MGNREGA wage payments.
“As of November 26, 2021, State governments are facing a shortage of ₹9,682 crore and 100% of the allocated funds for the year have been exhausted before the conclusion of the year,”
-it said.
“The month when the demand was highest in the previous year should be used as the base month for which minimum funds must be provided to the State Government in advance,”
-the plea said.
The plea urged directions to the Centre to establish a mechanism ensuring adequate funds for states to implement the program. It proposed using the highest demand month from the previous year as the base month for advance fund allocation.
Additionally, it requested compliance with Ministry of Rural Development instructions for registering work demands and ensuring automatic payment of unemployment allowance to eligible workers.
Further, the plea sought clearance of all pending wage, material, and administrative payments within 30 days, along with compensation for delayed wage payments as prescribed in MGNREGA. Swaraj Abhiyan, initially an NGO, had filed a PIL in 2015 seeking relief for rural poor and farmers, later submitting an interim application.
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