Authority: High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi

Order Date: 28 August 2026

Case Overview

  • Parties: Petitioner – Saira Begum, wife of Mohammad Khurshid Alam; Respondents – Chief Manager, Assistant General Manager, and Branch Manager of State Bank of India (SBI), Ranchi.
  • Petition: Writ Petition (WP(C) No.4228 of 2021) seeking quash of SBI letter AGM/RACPC/20-21/A-1168 dated 17 February 2020 rejecting her claim for home‑loan subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme, and direction to release the subsidy amount.
  • Timeline:
  • Application for home loan: 20 May 2015.
  • Loan sanction letter issued: 5 June 2015 (sanction date confirmed by Annexure ‘A’ and bank’s statement).
  • Home‑loan account opened: 8 June 2015.
  • First installment of Rs. 2,40,000 credited: 8 July 2015.
  • Power of attorney executed by petitioner and husband: 24 June 2015.
  • Sale deed for the property: 10 April 2019.
  • Entire loan amount credited: 4 October 2019.
  • PMAY Scheme Details: Effective from 17 June 2015 to 31 March 2022; eligibility requires that the loan be sanctioned on or after 17 June 2015.
  • Petitioner’s Argument: No house owned in Ranchi; loan disbursement occurred within the scheme period; power of attorney and sanction date post‑dated the scheme start; sale deed indicates eligibility; therefore subsidy should be granted.
  • Bank’s Argument: Loan was sanctioned on 5 June 2015, i.e., before the scheme’s cut‑off date of 17 June 2015; consequently petitioner is not eligible for any subsidy.
  • Court’s Observations:

1. The sanction date of 5 June 2015 is undisputed and precedes the scheme commencement.

2. The fact that the first disbursement occurred after 17 June 2015 does not confer eligibility because the scheme’s eligibility criterion is based on the sanction date, not the disbursement date.

3. The scheme does not have retrospective effect; no evidence was presented to show otherwise.

4. SBI’s circular dated 25 August 2016 (Clause 3) explicitly states that subsidy benefits are available only to loan accounts sanctioned on or after 17 June 2015; the word “sanction” is used, not “disbursement”.

5. Since the petitioner’s loan was sanctioned on 5 June 2015, she is ineligible for the PMAY subsidy.

Final Outcome

The writ petition is dismissed. The petitioner is not entitled to any subsidy under the PMAY scheme, and no relief is granted against the State Bank of India.

Topics: Home Loan Subsidy, PMAY Scheme, Judicial Decision