The Telangana High Court has lifted the stay order on one of the eight Government Orders (G.O.s) related to the Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadi Mubarak schemes. The schemes provide financial assistance to unmarried women, including those who are physically challenged. The stay order was lifted by Justice N.V.
Shravan Kumar, who allowed the government to provide financial assistance of ₹1.25 lakh to physically challenged unmarried women under the schemes. However, the stay order against the seven other G.O.s will continue for another two weeks. The court’s decision came after an advocate, Vijay Gopal, filed a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the implementation of the two welfare schemes.
He argued that the government had to strike a fiscal balance and that the eight G.O.s had no legal sanctity. The judge also allowed petitions filed by two MLAs, Majid Hussain and Ahmed Bin Abdullah Balala, seeking to implead them in the writ petition. During the hearing, the judge expressed concern over the involvement of legislators in the distribution of cheques to beneficiaries under the schemes.
Justice Shravan Kumar observed that the implementation of the schemes had assumed a political tone and suggested that the government should assign the responsibility of distributing cheques to authorities rather than legislators. The counsels for the MLAs sought dismissal of the writ petition, contending that it was filed with a vested interest. Some forces attempting to thwart the financial assistance to unmarried women from underprivileged and from lower strata of the society were behind the plea, they said.
