NEW DELHI: The principal finance secretary of the Delhi government has told the Supreme Court that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) received more than Rs 28,400 crore since 2015-16 but did not use the funds as per sanction conditions. The top court, which was hearing an AAP government plea alleging non-disbursal of funds to the DJB, was told by the senior official that the statutory water utility lacks accountability.
In an affidavit filed before a bench headed by CJI DY 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 AAP government.
“Despite receiving more than Rs 28,400 crore 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 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 unsupported by facts and law” on multiple grounds including that it was not filed following due process.
Referring to the report of the chief secretary, the affidavit 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.”
“At one end loans and interests thereon upon DJB has surpassed the figure of Rs 73,000 cr and the DJB has repeatedly informed the GNCTD that it is not in a position to repay its debt to the GNCTD. 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 water minister who had filed the petition.
“The DJB has received a total of Rs 76,923.82 crore 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,” the affidavit said.
The principal secretary said the allegations made against him by the government are not correct. The affidavit said Rs 4,572.90 crore has been released for 2023-24 alone.