Supreme Court orders Delhi to transfer Rs 415 cr from advertisement budget for RRTS project

Satya Prakash

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New Delhi, November 21

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi to transfer Rs 415 crore from its advertisement budget for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project after it failed to honour a promise made to the court in this regard.

AAP govt failed to keep word

• The Supreme Court took note of the fact that Delhi Government’s spending on advertisements in the last three years was Rs 1,100 crore
• In the current financial year also, Rs 550 crore has been earmarked for advertisements, which, the court noted, is more than enough to cover its share of expenditure
• While the Delhi Government agreed to pay its share for the Delhi-Meerut stretch, it refused to share the financial burden for the remaining two stretches, citing paucity of funds

A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, which kept the order in abeyance for a week at the request of the Delhi Government counsel, said, “If the funds are not transferred within a week, this order will come into effect.”

The Bench noted that on July 24, the Delhi Government had assured it that funds would be made available for the RRTS project. “We are thus constrained to order that funds allocated for advertisements shall be transferred to this project,” it said. “You can’t take this court for granted,” it said, posting the matter for further hearing on November 28.

The top court took note of the fact that Delhi Government’s spending on advertisements in the last three years was Rs 1,100 crore and in the current financial year also, Rs 550 crore was earmarked for advertisements, which was more than enough to cover its share of expenditure. While the Delhi-Meerut project was already under construction and the Delhi Government agreed to pay its share of the costs, it refused to share the financial burden for the remaining two stretches, citing a paucity of funds. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the 17-km priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor on October 20.

Rapping the Delhi Government over its huge advertisement budget, the Supreme Court had on July 24 directed it to provide an overdue amount of Rs 415 crore for the RRTS project in two months.

“Either you pay or we will attach your advertising budget… If Rs 1,100 crore can be spent for advertisement in the last three financial years, certainly contributions can be made to infrastructure projects,” the Bench had told the Delhi Government. “Your one year advertising budget is more than what you are giving for the project,” it had noted.