The Supreme Court on Tuesday brought together the Delhi Government, Centre and civic agencies on the talking table to discuss and devise a common strategy to counter the threat of dengue and chikungunya facing the national Capital.
The Court was pained to note that agencies working in the Capital were not working to fight the menace in the city with a spirit of “cooperation” and felt that the need of the hour was to ensure that all agencies shed their differences and work for the common interest of citizens of Delhi.
The Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and LN Rao said, “In our opinion, for the general interest of the people of Delhi and considering the fact that a large number of people are affected by dengue and chikungunya, it would be appropriate if a meeting is convened by the Lieutenant-Governor on October 5 at 2 pm.”
The said meeting will be attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Health Minister Satyendra Jain, Delhi Chief Secretary, Union Health Secretary, Commissioners of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Chairman of New Delhi Municipal Council, heads of Cantonment Board, DDA, Metro Rail, Northern Railways along with amicus curiae Colin Gonsalves, who is assisting the Court in the matter.
The Bench told the Delhi Government not to indulge in any blame game in the meeting and urged both Centre and AAP Government to discuss on what is to be done in future than dwell in the past. Further, the Bench added, “The participants should resolve issues relating to the better management of the problems faced by the people of Delhi due to dengue and chikungunya - and other issues, if so advised. The interests of the people of Delhi are paramount.”
The Court listed the case for hearing on Thursday expecting both sides to table a common agreement.
With the toll of dengue and chikungunya cases crossing 2,500 mark in the Capital over two months, the Delhi Government had informed Court that officers were taking orders from L-G office and defying Ministers of the hAAP Government. The Court had imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Delhi Health Minister for failing to name the erring officials. On Tuesday, the fresh affidavit filed by Delhi also did not name any officer.
Although Health Minister Satyendra Jain made certain personal remarks against the Health Secretary, the Bench ignored the same. Senior advocate CU Singh who represented the AAP Government urged the Court to waive the cost but the Bench bluntly refused.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar who represented the L-G also claimed to represent the Delhi Government indicating that all was not well within the Delhi administration. When the AAP Government chose to flag this issue as the root cause of difficulty, the Bench brushed it aside saying, “You (Delhi) are sitting with a closed mind. There is no difficulty, you are creating the difficulty. Why can't your CM and Ministers sit with L-G. There is no point in blaming anybody and looking to the past is not going to help. Look up to the interest of people of Delhi.”
with thanks : The Pioneer : LINK
