‘If Rs.1,100 crore can be spent for advertisements, certainly contributions can be made for infrastructure projects’: SC to AAP Delhi govt

A bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that the AAP govt has spent Rs.1,100 crore on advertisements in the last three years

PGurus Newsdesk

July 24, 2023

A bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that the AAP govt has spent Rs.1,100 crore on advertisements in the last three years

Delhi govt asked to provide Rs.415 crore for the RRTS project in two months

After the Supreme Court slammed the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi government over its expenditure on advertisements, the state government has now agreed to make budgetary provisions towards the fulfillment of its share for the construction of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project.

Supreme Court directed the Delhi government to clear an amount of around Rs.415 crore for the rapid rail project and recorded that the overdue amount will be paid within 2 months.

“If Rs.1,100 crore can be spent for advertisement in the last 3 years, certainly, contributions can be made for infrastructure projects,” remarked a bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

“Either you pay or we will attach your advertisement budget,” the court told senior advocate Abhishek Manu Sighvi, appearing for the Delhi government when the hearing commenced on Monday.

Singhvi submitted that budgetary provisions will be made in accordance with the proposed schedule. Further, he assured that the remaining budget will also be allocated in a phased manner.

In its affidavit, the AAP-led government in Delhi told the Supreme Court that it has spent around Rs.1,073 crore on advertisements in the past three years.

The top court noted that it was “constrained” to order the Delhi government to furnish an affidavit providing details of funds spent by it for advertisements in the last three financial years as it had thrown its hand up for contributing its proportionate amount.

“If you have money for advertisements, why don’t you have money for a project that will ensure smooth transport?” questioned the top court in the last hearing after the Delhi government’s counsel had said that there was a paucity of funds.

The court had indicated that, if required, it may also order to divert the funds allocated for advertisement towards the completion of the rapid rail project. The observations were made by the court when the Delhi government had informed that it had no finances available for the contribution of its share of funds towards the semi-high-speed rail corridor being constructed to connect the national capital with the cities of Ghaziabad and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

“The Delhi government has expressed its inability to contribute funds for the common project. Since the paucity of funds is an impediment in this project, we call upon the NCT of Delhi to file an affidavit setting forth the funds utilized for advertisement as the project is of considerable importance. Details may be furnished for the last three financial years,” the court had ordered on July 3.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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