Overview

• The court issued an interim order keeping all bank recovery actions against Wayanad landslide victims in abeyance until the case is finally decided.
• The bench impleaded 12 lenders, including SBI, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, PNB, Union Bank of India, Indian Bank, Federal Bank and Kerala Gramin Bank, and sought counter-affidavits on full or partial waivers or reasons for recovery.
• Justices A. K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian said the Union had "failed" the victims, invoking Article 21 on the right to life and dignity and pointing to the Union executive’s powers under Article 73.
• The Union government told the court there is no legal provision for waiving loans after natural disasters and said decisions on waivers lie beyond the Department of Financial Services, citing RBI guidelines.
• The bench noted the Centre approved about ₹708 crore in additional assistance to Assam and Gujarat for 2024 calamities and said the waiver sought for small agricultural and livelihood loans would be only a fraction of that, while observing some state-controlled banks had already written off such loans.