Relief on loan repayment a policy decision: Supreme Court

The apex court, however, put the matter for consideration on June 11

The Supreme Court on Monday said it was a policy decision of the Union government as to what kind of measures should be taken to help people facing financial hardships due to Covid-19.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah asked advocate Vishal Tiwari, who wanted some relief to borrowers during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, to send a representation to the Union government.

"At the maximum, what we can do is that we can allow him (the petitioner) to give his representation to the central government," the bench said, adding that the matter pertained to a policy decision.

The court, however, put the matter for consideration on June 11.

The PIL sought a direction to the Centre to permit all lending (financial) institutions to grant interest-free moratorium period for term loan and defer the payment of loan instalments for a period of six months or till the Covid-19 situation persisted.

The plea said bank or financial institutions should not take action for auction in respect of any property of any citizen or person or party or anybody corporate for a period of six months. No account should be declared as non-performing asset (NPA) for a period of six months, keeping in mind the pandemic.