In a major decision, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday said the Union government was within its powers to suspend the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) and divert such funds to combat COVID-19. A bench of Chief Justice consisting of Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni was presiding over a public interest litigation filed through lawyer Shekhar Jagtap opposing the suspension of the scheme, which provides parliamentarians funds for development work in their constituencies, in April this year for two years.
The bench also said it doubted Jagtap had the right to lay a claim in the matter. It said if any of the parliamentarians felt they were unable to carry out development work in their constituencies due to the suspension of the MPLAD scheme, they were free to come to this court.
"The MPs are responsible, mature persons. They will never come before us for such a thing. During a pandemic, the nation needs to put all efforts into strengthening its health and medical infrastructure," the bench said. The HC also said Jagtap should have done some research and provided data to show if the suspension of the scheme was adversely impacting the public.
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