The Supreme Court ordered the government of Andhra Pradesh under Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday to refund Rs 1100 crore of Covid-19 relief funds that it is believed were taken from the State Disaster Response Support (SDRF) to fund its welfare programmes. The Jagan government was criticised by a division of the Supreme Court made up of justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna for transferring funds intended for ex gratia payments to the families of Covid-19 victims into personal deposit (PD) accounts to support welfare programmes. The court ordered the government to return the Rs 1100 crore to the SDRF within the next two weeks, calling the diverting of funds intended for disaster assistance for other uses a serious problem.
