India, Oct. 9 -- In a stinging observation, the Kerala High Court (HC) on Wednesday said that the Union Government has "virtually failed" the victims of the 2024 landslides in Wayanad by not exercising its powers to waive off the loans availed by them. A bench of justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian termed as "unfortunate" and "exasperating" the central Government's stand not to waive off the loans of the victims.
It directed that any recovery action by banks against the landslide victims in Wayanad shall be kept in abeyance till the final disposal of the PIL, initiated by the court on its own in the wake of the calamity, aimed at improving disaster prevention and management in Kerala.
The court said it cannot remain a mut...