New Delhi: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) received more than Rs 28,400 crore since 2015-16 but it did not use the funds as per sanction conditions, the Delhi government's principal finance secretary has told the Supreme Court which is hearing an AAP government's plea alleging non-disbursal of funds to the water utility. The senior government official also said the statutory body lacks accountability.
The top court had on April 5 asked the Delhi government's Principal Secretary (Finance) to release funds to the DJB and had made the utility, responsible for supplying potable water to the national capital, a party to the plea filed by the ruling AAP dispensation.
In an affidavit filed before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Ashish Chandra Verma, the principal secretary of the finance department, extensively referred a March 15 report of the chief secretary on the subject of "serious problems" related to water supply and maintenance of sewage lines being faced by residents of Delhi to counter the claims made by the Arvind Kejriwal government.
"Despite receiving more than Rs.28,400 crores of rupees from public exchequer (i.e. GNCTD) since 2015-16, there is no accountability, and the funds are not been used as per sanction conditions, as indicated by the CAG in its report. "This becomes more so worrisome that the CAG audit has been delayed by non-preparation of balance sheet, which needs examination about the conduct of DJB in this regard," the official said in his affidavit.
Seeking dismissal of the plea, the finance secretary termed it as completely "untenable, misconceived and un-supported by facts and law" on various grounds including that it was not filed after following the due process.
Referring to the report of the chief secretary, the affidavit said, "Water tariffs (and thus sewer tariffs as they are calculated as 60% of the water tariffs) have not been increased since 01.02.2018 (which used to be revised every year by way of enhancement @ 10% per annum), and service charges have not been increased since 01.01.2015, thus affecting the financial health of the DJB."
It said the water utility was losing out on a potential revenue of about Rs 1,200 crore per annum due to non-enhancement of tariff against domestic bills alone. "While the number of consumers with dues was about 11 lakhs in July, 2023, the same had risen to over 14 lakhs in January, 2024, implying that consumers were wilfully not depositing their dues in anticipation of yet another scheme as was being announced," the affidavit said.
"At one end the loans and interests thereon upon DJB has surpassed the figure of Rs. 73,000 crore and Delhi Jal Board has repeatedly informed the GNCTD that it is not in a position to repay its debt to the GNCTD, and at the same time DJB is not following the statutory provisions to bring in financial probity," it said.
The affidavit said the directions on the report of the chief secretary are still awaited from the office of the Delhi water minister who had filed the petition. "The DJB has received a total of Rs 76,923.82 Cr from various sources and out of which, Rs. 75,313.42 Crore was spent leaving a balance of Rs 1610.40 Crore in the bank accounts of Delhi Jal Board. But in the absence of balance closing certificates from the various banks, the audit couldn't confirm the balances as shown by the DJB," it said.
Assailing the claims made in the plea, the affidavit said the DJB is not a government but statutory body constituted under the Delhi Water Board Act, 1998. Therefore, the instant case is not about release of funds allotted in the budget by the legislative assembly, but a case in which the city government provides funds to the DJB in form of "capital loans, grant-in-aid, subsidies, ways and means" on the recommendations of the administrative department, the affidavit said.
The principal secretary said the allegations made against him by the government are not correct. The affidavit said Rs 29,172 crore has been disbursed to the DJB between 2015 and 2023-24, adding Rs 4,572.90 crore has been released for 2023-24 alone.
On April 5, the top court took note of the submissions of senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the Principal Secretary (Finance), that the Delhi government, which has filed the plea against its own official, has not made the DJB a party. We will implead DJB (as a party) to find out from them (about the dues)...In the meantime, please release funds which are liable to be paid, the bench had said.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, said the minister concerned has written six times to the finance secretary and yet the entire fund has not been released. The court has fixed the Delhi government's petition for further hearing on April 10.
Earlier on April 1, the top court had issued a notice to the Principal Secretary (Finance) on the plea of the AAP government which alleged that the official was not releasing funds to the DJB despite budgetary approval by the legislative assembly.
The bench had not issued notice to the office of the lieutenant governor after taking note of the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi that the LG has no role in disbursement of funds by the finance department of the Delhi government. The Arvind Kejriwal government had moved the top court on March 20 over the issue in the latest run-in involving the bureaucracy and the AAP dispensation in Delhi.
