SC tags pleas seeking to extend moratorium period, forego interest on loan repayment

The Supreme Court on Friday tagged a petition, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari seeking directions to extend the moratorium period to help borrowers in deferring their EMI payment on term loans amid the pandemic, with another pending plea.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and also comprising Justices R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah, tagged the petition of Vishal Tiwari along with that of Gajendra Sharma, which sought directions for waiver of interest on the loan repayment during the moratorium.

Vishal Tiwari, in his plea, sought directions to all the banks to adhere to extend the moratorium period for lawyers/ service sector, transport and tourist industry, including drivers and other covered under these sectors and defer their EMI payment on term loans till December 31.

"The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in India has brought a drastic financial difficulty along with the health disaster that is going on in this country. Various people have lost jobs during this situation of biological emergency and various professionals and others have gone through real financial hardship," Tiwari said in his plea.

"Due to the financial difficulties, it has become a struggling issue for many people to pay off monthly loan installments as there is lesser or nil income of the borrowers and legal professionals, due to the closure of the physical hearing in various Courts of the country including the Supreme Court," the plea said.

On the last date of hearing on Gajendra Sharma's petition seeking a waiver of interest on loan repayment during the moratorium, the apex court had sought the response of the Central government.

( With inputs from ANI )