The Supreme Court on November 21 directed the Delhi government to “transfer” its advertisement budget for the current year to pay its contribution towards the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project, but held the order in abeyance for a week.
A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia scheduled the next hearing on November 28 “to see what you [Delhi government] have done” in the meanwhile.
The court said it was “constrained” to pass the order, as the Delhi government has not contributed its share of ₹415 crore owed to the RRTS project despite repeated orders from the court and an assurance from the government in a July 24 hearing. “You did not even come and seek an extension of time... You cannot take this court for granted,” Justice Kaul addressed senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the Delhi government.
On July 3, the court had ordered the Delhi government to provide details of the money it had spent on advertisements in the past three years after the Aam Aadmi Party regime said it did not have funds to contribute for the project.
Cutting pollution
The RRTS, a mass transit network running along the Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat routes, is expected to reduce pollution considerably in the capital and the neighbouring regions.
The court noted that the budgetary provision for three years was ₹1,100 crore; for the current financial year, it is ₹550 crore.
“The budgetary provision is for the State look into. But such national projects are to be implemented... We would have been inclined to transfer those funds to the project. However, on the last date of July 24, 2023, Dr. A.M. Singhvi [who was then appearing for the Delhi government] had assured [the court of] the availability of funds. Now, we would have little option... We are this constrained to direct funds allocated for advertisements be transferred to the project. At the request of the counsel [senior advocate Ms. Arora] we keep the order in abeyance for one week and if funds are not transferred, the order will come into operation,” Justice Kaul dictated the order in court.
The order copy has not been published yet.
‘Escalating costs’
Ms. Arora requested the court not to pass such an order in “one go”, but the Bench indicated that the court was compelled to pass such orders to make States comply.
The counsel for the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which is building the RRTS, had said that the costs of the project were escalating annually.
“We had specifically mentioned that ₹415 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,” Justice Kaul observed in the hearing on Tuesday.
