Supreme Court to hear Punjab’s plea for release of rural development funds from Centre on September 2

New Delhi, August 30

The Supreme Court will hear on September 2 the Punjab government’s plea, seeking an urgent release of over Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre on account of alleged dues of Market Fee and Rural Development Fee.

Punjab government counsel Shadan Farasat told a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Friday that he was assured that the matter will be listed on September 2 but the top court’s website did not show it listed on that day.

“We will see… It will be taken up,” the CJI said.

The CJI-led Bench – which could not take up the matter on August 12 due to paucity of time – had posted it for hearing on September 2 following a joint request made by Attorney General R Venkataramani and Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh.

The Punjab government had last year filed a suit before the Supreme Court against the Centre over the non-reimbursement of statutory fee allegedly running into thousands of crores of that the state government had levied on behalf of the central government during the procurement of food grains.

In its original suit filed under Article 131 of the Constitution, the State of Punjab complained against the Centre for refusing to transfer back the statutory Market Fee and Rural Development Fee levied by the state on behalf of the Centre.

Article 131 of the Constitution deals with the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction in a dispute between the Centre and one or more states; or a dispute between two or more states.

The levies are important in bearing the expenses of acquiring food grains with minimum transition losses, the state government explained.

The dues on account of Rural Development Fee were said to be to the tune of Rs 3,637 crore from 2021 and Market Fee to the tune of Rs 2,400 crore from 2022.

The Centre’s actions went against Modified Fixation Principles in place since February 24, 2020, the Punjab government submitted.