SC declines to entertain PIL for widows

New Delhi, Mar 12 (UNI) The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a PIL seeking a large number of directions to the Centre and states for setting up a comprehensive national scheme for welfare of about 45 million widows in the country and also to monitor the implementation of such a scheme.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran and V Sirpurkar directed the petitioner to approach the authorities concerned for relief. The petitioner has made 23 prayers in all, which include the directions to pay within 48 hours the payment of claim by the widows of martyrs and the waving off loan of widows of farmers who committed suicide due to heavy debt and also to protect these widows from village money lenders.

The petitioner has contended the widows who constitute eleven per cent of the female population in the country are subjected to traumatic and humiliating rituals of widowhhood.

The Court permitted the petitioner to withdraw the petition which was dismissed as withdrawn.

UNI