PIL in Karnataka High Court seeks Gruha Lakshmi Yojana arrears, cites ‘legitimate expectation’ of uninterrupted benefits
The petitioners say Rs 15,000 crore lapsed because the Karnataka government failed to carry forward the unpaid amounts into 2026.
The Karnataka High Court orally said, “A citizen of another country is raped here, it is a very serious offence". The Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued a notice on a public interest litigation filed by two social workers seeking a direction for the government to release the unpaid Gruha Lakshmi Yojana dole for February and March 2025 to beneficiaries.
Under the scheme, which came into force on June 6, 2023, women heads of households receive financial assistance of Rs 2,000 per month.
Senior advocate Vikram Huilgol appeared for petitioners R Ganga and G D Pavithra. He submitted before a vacation bench of Justices Suraj Govindaraj and K Manmadha Rao, “Balance of convenience is overwhelmingly in favour of the beneficiaries, as more than 1.26 crore women belonging to economically weaker sections are dependent upon the said financial assistance for their basic livelihood and day-to-day sustenance.”
He argued that continuous disbursement of benefits under a notified welfare scheme creates a legitimate expectation of uninterrupted payment, and withholding instalments for two months without any justification is arbitrary and unreasonable.
The disbursement of benefits under the scheme commenced in August 2023, and within two months, 1,28,80,594 beneficiaries had registered for the dole.
In February 2025, beneficiaries did not receive the payout due to an administrative transition in the direct benefit transfer (DBT) mechanism, following a policy decision to route payments through taluk panchayats instead of the Department of Women and Child Development.
Beneficiaries did not receive the dole the next month either, and approximately Rs 15,000 crore lapsed because the finance department failed to carry forward the unpaid amounts into the new financial year, according to the petitioners.
“Then the Minister for Women and Child Development, Laxmi Hebbalkar, had publicly admitted the non-disbursal of instalments and lapse of funds under the scheme,” the petition stated.
The petitioners said the non-disbursal of the dole violates the fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
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