NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Central government to file a detailed affidavit on a batch of petitions seeking an extension of the moratorium period on repayment of loans and to waive off the interest on the repayment of the loan amount in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks. Advocate Vishal Tiwari, one of the petitioners in the matter, submitted that his public interest litigation (PIL) has specific prayers regarding the extension of the moratorium and said that there should be a relief to the individual borrowers and service sectors, besides big manufacturing sectors and till further orders, borrowers CIBIL score shall not be affected and no coercive action shall be taken against borrowers till further orders. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Ministry of Finance, submitted that they are having a lot of consultation with banks and other stakeholders for relief. He said that the consideration is taking place at the highest level and added that this is a subject matter of holistic consideration and that authorities are concerned about the borrowers. Senior advocate Rajeev Dutta, appearing for a set of borrowers, told the apex court that the compound interest is still being charged in loan cases. “Where is the relief? The loans being restructured, that should have been done earlier.Lakhs of people are in hospitals for their sufferings, a lot of people lost their sources of income. The Central government should make their stand clear, decide on relief on the issue of the moratorium and waiving of interest on interest and others if it felt so,” Dutta said. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for an association named CREDAI, submitted that the downgrading of borrowers is continuing, which must be protected now, and sought an extension of the loan moratorium and a stay on downgrading and interest levy.
