SC pulls up Delhi government, Orders Transfer Of Ad Funds To RRTS project

The Delhi Government was pulled up by the Supreme Court on Tuesday for failing to abide by its promise to set allocate funds for the Regional Rapid Rail Transit System Project.

The Delhi Government’s stance dissatisfied the Court, which issued an order of transferring government’s advertisement funds for the project. The Court did, however, keep the order in limbo for a week, noting that it will take effect if the Government does not voluntarily transfer the project’s funding within that time frame.

Judges Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia’s bench noted that there had been a “gross breach” of the promises made by the Delhi government.

The bench stated that they had specifically mentioned the remaining amount due from the Delhi government in April and had instructed them to make the payment as soon as possible. The bench also pointed out that this financial year’s budgetary allotment for advertisements is Rs 550 crores, and nearly Rs 1100 crores for the previous three years.

“If such national projects are affected, and if money is being spent on advertisement, we would be inclined to ask the money to be directed to the infrastructure,” the bench stated in its order.

For the Delhi Government, Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora asked for a week. According to Justice Kaul, the case will be listed in a week, and the order will take effect if the funds are not allocated in the meantime

After the Court asked the Government to present the budgetary allocations for government advertisements, the Government promised the Court in July that it would make budgetary provisions for the RRTS project.

“If INR 1100 crores can be spent for advertisement in the last 3 financial years, certainly, contributions can be made to infrastructure projects,” the bench led by Justice Kaul had observed earlier.