SC rejects plea saying cannot provide financial relief in loan moratorium, interest waiver

The Supreme Court rejected a plea that sought financial relief in the form of fresh loan moratorium, extension of time period under the restructuring scheme and temporary cease on the declaration of NPA, from the Government of India.

According to Live Law, the apex court disposed of a writ petition which sought financial relief. A vacation bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah stated that it was for the government to decide on the financial relief.

The PIL was filed by Advocate Vishal Tiwari in which he submitted that the second wave of COVID-19 has made at least 1 crore Indians jobless. “When the bench pointed out that the Reserve Bank of India had announced certain financial packages as per circular dated May 5, the petitioner replied that it was not sufficiently addressing the problems of ordinary middle-class families,” the report stated.

The Supreme Court had earlier in March rejected similar pleas asking the court's interference in loan moratorium.

Recently, the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) on behalf of lenders has approached the finance ministry to refund the burden fallen on their shoulders due to a recent Supreme Court judgment on the waiver of compound interest on all loan accounts which opted for moratorium during March-August 2020.