The Supreme Court on Friday asked the office of Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to file an affidavit on the AAP Government’s plea seeking release of funds for its ‘Farishtey Dilli Ke’ scheme providing free treatment to accident victims.

A bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta asked Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to file an affidavit in two weeks. The bench sought response from the Lieutenant Governor after senior advocate Sanjay Jain appearing for Saxena told the bench that the office of the Lieutenant Governor was not involved in the matter.

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“It is not a matter where there was an issue between the Lieutenant Governor and the Council of Ministers. Lieutenant Governor is not involved in any manner,” Jain told the bench.

The ‘Farishtey Dilli Ke’ scheme is run by a society headed by Delhi Health Minister. Jain said, “It is the Health Minister who conducted a meeting on January 2 and released the funds.”

“File an affidavit to this effect. If we find the Minister has taken us for a ride, we will impose an exemplary cost,” said the bench.

At the outset of the hearing, the bench was informed that the Lieutenant Governor has not filed his response on the petition yet. To this the bench said, “Ask your Lieutenant Governor not to make every issue a prestige issue.”

To this, Jain replied that this petition is a classic case of “a storm in a teacup as it was much ado about nothing.”

The ‘Farishte Dilli Ke’ scheme of Delhi government uses fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to encourage citizens to help victims of road accidents, thermal burns and acid attacks without the fear of legal hassle or police inquiry.

Under this scheme, the victims get cashless treatment at any registered public or private nursing home or hospital across Delhi and those who bring in the victims also get an appreciation amount of Rs 2,000 from the Delhi government.

The Health Minister of Delhi had named two senior bureaucrats, alleging that they conspired to delay or stop payments to private hospitals.

The Delhi government had stated in its plea that with the enactment of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023, ‘services’ fall under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant Governor and the power was being used to frustrate the scheme.