SC to hear PIL on siphoning of funds for SC/ST students

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear next week a PIL alleging siphoning of Rs 18,000 crore funds meant for granting scholarship to students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar considered the submissions of lawyer M L Sharma seeking urgent hearing of the PIL.

Sharma, in his plea, has referred to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and said the money to the tune of Rs 18,000 crore, meant for scholarship for SC/ST community have been siphoned off by public servants and other functionaries.

The plea said the CAG performed the audit for 2013-2017 and found irregularities in account of states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharastra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.