Bombay HC junks plea against ‘Ladki Bahin’, ‘Yuva Karya’ schemes

Mumbai, Aug. 5 (IANS) Spelling relief for the MahaYuti government in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a PIL challenging the recently launched ‘Ladi Bahin’ and ‘Yuva Karya’ schemes, saying it will not interfere in such policy decisions.A division bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar said that it was not moved by the arguments of the petitioner — a Navi Mumbai chartered accountant named Naveed Abdul Sayeed Mulla — who filed the public interest litigation last week.Named ‘Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana’ (Chief Minister’s Beloved Sister Scheme) and ‘Mukhya Mantri Yuva Karya Prashikshan Yojana’ (Chief Minister’s Youth Employment Skill Training Scheme), the two schemes were announced in the state Budget 2024-25.The ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme proposes to provide financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to all women (21-65 years) from the economically weaker sections, while the ‘Yuva Karya’ scheme intends to give stipends between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000 per month to the youth (18-35 years) enrolled in the state government’s technical training programmes.Naveed Mulla claimed that political motives were behind the two schemes ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections due in October, but the division bench said the petitioner could not argue beyond the contours of the law.To the petitioner’s arguments that taxpayers’ money is being frittered through such schemes launched with political motives despite objections being raised by the finance department, the court said the amount for the schemes was earmarked through a budgetary allocation.Declining to intervene simply because a scheme may be more advantageous to some individuals, the court said that Article 15 of the Constitution empowers the state to make provisions for the disadvantaged sections of society, and these schemes were as social welfare measures as permitted by the statute.The judges also rejected the petitioner’s plea to direct the state finance department for a reply, saying that merely because different departments of a government hold different views, they cannot be asked to file replies, as it dismissed the PIL without any costs.The ruling Shiv Sena welcomed the verdict, saying that it reinforced the MahaYuti government’s people-oriented initiative, adding that the schemes would be launched on the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan (on August 19).–IANSqn/arm