Supreme Court directive to create Rs. 723 Crore corpus for the disabled

The Supreme Court has ordered the creation of a Rs. 723 Crore corpus fund for the benefit of the 100 million physically disabled people in the country. 

In April 1993, the Reserve Bank ha approved a proposal by the bankers to round up the existing rates of interest to 0.25 per cent from borrowers, if such rates were less than 0.25 per cent.  Such rounding up was allegedly found necessary on account of the grossing up involved in calculating the incidence to tax. 

Following a petition filed by a consultancy service, the High Court held that the action of the bankers was illegal and directed that the excess amount of Rs. 723.79 crores collected every year, be deposited in the Central Government funds. 

Upholding the judgment, a three Bench of the Supreme Court comprising the Chief Justice, V.N. Khare, Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice S.H. Kapaida directed the Comptroller and Auditor general of India to recover the extra excess amount and create the fund from this.  The Bench also directed the Indian Banks Association and other institutions concerned to contribute Rs.50 lakhs each. 

The Corpus so created would enable the trustees to give  effect to the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. 

Source: Success & Ability

Date: April-June 2004