Of the total project cost of Rs 30,274 crore for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut segment of the RRTS, the AAP government was supposed to give Rs 1,180 crore, but Rs 415 crore is yet to be released
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi to apprise it of the money spent on advertisements in the last three financial years. A bench presided by Justice S K Kaul issued the direction as the Delhi government pleaded inability to contribute to the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project due to paucity of funds.
According to sources, the matter pertains to the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut segment of the RRTS. Of the total project cost of Rs 30,274 crore, the Delhi Government was supposed to give approximately Rs 1,180 crore. Of this, Rs 415 crore is yet to be released.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had passed directions asking the Delhi government to fulfil its financial obligations.
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An official said the situation is similar for the Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat segments of the RRTS for which the Delhi government has not yet released any funds.
The BJP, meanwhile, attacked the AAP government after the apex court’s directions. “Today the Supreme Court has shown a mirror to the Kejriwal government by asking for details of how much money it spent on advertisements in the last three years… Instead of spending money on Delhi’s development works, Kejriwal is wasting public money on his publicity,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s expenditure on advertisements has been under scrutiny for several years, with the BJP, Congress and the office of the Lieutenant Governor raising the issue since 2015.
Earlier this year, a recovery notice for Rs 97 crore was issued to AAP chief Kejriwal for allegedly misusing government funds for political advertisements. The amount, along with penalties and interest, was eventually updated to Rs 163.62 crore.
This came after Congress leader Ajay Maken filed a complaint with the Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising in 2016. He then approached L-G VK Saxena in October last year, asking him to look into the matter. The AAP had approached the Delhi High Court against the notice but did not get a stay on the demand order.
The priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut project — which runs between Sahibabad and Duhai — has been cleared by the safety inspector and is expected to start operations soon.
The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) added it was targeting to open the entire 82-km stretch of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut for the public by 2025. This will reduce travel time between Delhi and Meerut to less than an hour.
First published on: 03-07-2023 at 16:26 IST
