The Supreme Court on Wednesday did not entertain a petition seeking a direction to the Centre to release local body funds for Tamil Nadu, pending since 2016. The petition said the delay in the release of funds had impacted development works in the State.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde asked petitioner-advocate C.R. Jaya Sukin to approach the Madras High Court. “I will withdraw this with liberty to go to the High Court,” the lawyer said. Mr. Sukin submitted that development works had been stopped for the last four years in gram panchayats, corporations, municipalities and town panchayats across the State.
“There are a lot of issues on a daily basis that can be solved at the local level but the Union of India had not given funds,” his petition said.
The plea said that the seats in various local bodies in the State had been lying vacant since October 2016.
“On December 6, 2019, the apex court directed the state election commission to hold the panchayats election in all levels expect nine districts,” it said.
