NEW DELHI: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court directed the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi to transfer its advertisement budget for the current year to the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project.
However, the order is slated to be suspended for a week.
The order was passed by a two-judge bench led by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia. They have scheduled the next hearing on November 28 โto see what you [Delhi government] have doneโ in the meantime.
The bench said that the Arvind Kejriwal government had forced their hand, as it still has not paid up its share of Rs 415 crore owed to the RRTS project despite repeated court orders and assurance from the government in a July 24 hearing. โYou did not even come and seek an extension of timeโฆ You cannot take this court for granted,โ Justice Kaul addressed senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the Delhi government.
Supreme Court slams AAPโs Delhi govt, gives it a weekโs time to allocate funds for RRTS.
If Kejriwal Govt fails to do so, court will direct its advertising funds (โน500 crore) for this year to be allocated for RRTS.
Court also slams failure to stop AAP ruled Punjab farmโฆ pic.twitter.com/tXiHE2MEVL
โ Megh Updates ๐จโข (@MeghUpdates) November 21, 2023
Arora had requested the two-judge bench to not pass such an order at โone goโ. The bench said that they were compelled to pass the order to make states comply.
โWe had specifically mentioned that โน415 crore was payable by Delhi, for which budgetary provision was to be made. We had asked Delhi to pay the amount promptly as the project was meant to reduce pollution and had a vast impact,โ Justice Kaul observed in the hearing on Tuesday.
The counsel for the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), overlooking the progress of the RRTS, said that the costs were escalating annually.
The RRTS is a mass-transit network that is still under construction which is slated to cover a distance of Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat which is expected to reduce pollution in the national capital as well as its surrounding regions.
The court noted that the budgetary provision for three years was โน1,100 crore, while for the current financial year, it is โน550 crore.
