NEW DELHI, July 24: The Supreme Court on Monday lambasted the Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi government for expressing its inability to pay its share for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors when it was spending a huge Rs 1,100 crores in advertisements in the last three years.
The SC immediately directed the Delhi government to pay Rs 415 crores in the next two months which the Kejriwal government agreed to comply.
The Delhi government had expressed its inability to contribute funds for the RRTS project after which the top court had directed it to place on record funds spent on advertisements in the last three years. The RRTS project consists of semi-high speed rail corridors connecting Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Alwar in Rajasthan, and Panipat in Haryana.
Noting that the Delhi government has spent ₹ 1,100 crore on advertisements in the last three years, the top court remarked the Kejriwal government is bound to pay the funds when the other states involved are paying for it.
“Your one year advertising budget is more than what you are giving for the project. We were constrained to pass the last order only on account of the NCT government throwing its hands (up) to contribute to the project. We put to the senior counsel that if ₹ 1,100 crore budget can be spent on advertising in the last three financial years, then certainly contribution can be made to the infrastructure projects,” A bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, informed the top court about the budgetary allocation made towards advertisements in the last three years. Singhvi assured the bench that payment will be made towards the project but requested for the contribution to be allowed in instalments spread over a reasonable period of time.
The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is executing the project, a joint venture between the Centre and the states concerned. The Delhi-Meerut project is already under construction, and the Kejriwal government has agreed to pay its share of the costs. However, the Delhi government has refused to share the financial burden for the remaining two stretches, citing a paucity of funds.
The funds were needed for construction of the RRTS stretch that will connect the national capital with Rajasthan and Haryana. The top court had earlier directed the Delhi government to contribute ₹ 500 crore from the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) to the RRTS corridor being constructed between Delhi and Meerut.
The estimated cost of the 82.15-km stretch is ₹ 31,632 crore. The corridor, with 24 stations, will cover the distance from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Modipuram, Meerut in 60 minutes. Of the 82.15 km-long corridor, Delhi will have around 13 km with stations at Sarai Kale Khan, New Ashok Nagar and Anand Vihar.
(Manas Dasgupta)
