HC asks govt to explain rationale behind endorsement by MP/MLA
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the BJP-led city government to explain the rationale behind the requirement of endorsement by the local MP or MLA to avail benefit under the ‘Delhi Lakshmi Yojana’ which offers financial aid of Rs 2,500 per month to women.
The high court asked the objective which the government was seeking to achieve by making this requirement compulsory for every applicant seeking benefit under the scheme. A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said if this requirement was one of the options available with the applicants, then it was fine, but the problem here was that this was the only option.
The court asked the government to file within 10 days a short affidavit in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue by former Congress councillor Abhishek Dutt and sitting councillor Vedpal Sheetal Chaudhary.
“Let a short affidavit be filed by respondent no. 1 (Delhi government) giving the rationale of introducing the system of endorsement from MP/MLA for the purpose of seeking benefit under the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana. “The respondent no.
1 shall also indicate what objective they are seeking to achieve by adding this clause in the scheme,” the bench said. The court listed the matter for further hearing on October 17.
During the hearing, the bench said the gazette notification does not talk about any such requirement. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the government, said the scheme has also been introduced in several other states and this requirement is everywhere in the country.
He said there is a rational nexus behind this requirement and that 6.1 lakh beneficiaries have already been added to the scheme.
The bench, however, disapproved the move and asked, “What is the rationale to ask them to have a recommendation from MP/ MLA? A policy or scheme without any rationale is arbitrary.” The bench had earlier observed that eligibility can be ascertained by seeking documents, such as an income certificate and domicile.