SC slams AAP govt on lame excuses; warns audit on earning, spending on popularity slogans

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Delhi government saying it is passing the buck to Municipal Commissioner and warned it of auditing the revenue it’s earning and spending on popularity slogans.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant while persuing the affidavit filed by the Delhi government also said that affidavit is all about bashing farmers and how the entire cause is stubble burning.

It took exception to the Delhi government passing the buck to MCD and said, “This kind of lame excuse will force us to hold an audit of the revenue you are earning and spending on popularity slogans.”

Air pollution in Delhi: Centre suggests three steps to Supreme Court to bring down pollution- Introduction of odd-even vehicle scheme, ban on trucks' entry in Delhi, and severest will be lockdown.

— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2021

The observation came when the Bench asked senior advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for the Delhi government, on the measures taken towards road cleaning and he replied that the municipal corporations may be asked to file an affidavit detailing the same.

The Bench asked Delhi government why only 69 mechanised sweeping machines are there to clean the roads from dust, which continue to be a major source of pollution.

It asked Mehra to inform immediately how many mechanised road sweeping machines the government could procure in the next 24 hours to ease pollution caused by dust particles. Mehra replied that there are 69 machines and more can be procured on a war footing.

Delhi government also informed the apex court that it is ready to sanction funds for procurement of mechanised road sweeping machines as soon as the MCDs specify their requirements.

To this, the apex court asked it to take action and don’t wait for the court to pass directions.

Supreme Court slams Delhi government, saying it's passing the buck to Municipal Commissioner.

This kind of lame excuse will force us to hold an audit of the revenue you are earning and spend on popularity slogans – the Supreme Court says.

— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2021

Delhi government also informed the top court that it is ready to declare lockdown but since air has no boundary, the Centre has to bring all NCR states on board and declare a lockdown in the entire NCR region.

The top court was hearing plea relating to rising pollution levels in Delhi-NCR.

Following the action after being nudged by the Supreme Court to curb the rising air pollution in the national capital, Delhi’s air quality on Monday witnessed marginal improvement as the air quality in the capital city reached the lower end of ‘very poor’ category with Air Quality Index (AQI) at 318 (overall), according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

The pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR), especially Noida and Gurugram, have also shown slight improvement. Noida reported AQI in the upper end of the ‘very poor’ category at 387, while the air quality in Gurugram has seen significant improvement and has now reached the lower end of the ‘very poor’ category at 317.

“Implementation of lockdown for the two days with restrictions in anthropogenic activity emitting pollutants, air quality may improve a little but likely to remain in the very poor category if stubble burning share does not increase,” SAFAR’s bulletin read.

The Supreme Court on Saturday suggested the Centre for a two days lockdown to tackle air pollution in the national capital.

Owing to high levels of air pollution, schools in Delhi and Haryana have been closed. All construction activities have also been shut down.