The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the AAP government to respond to a plea alleging that the selection criteria of its pilgrimage scheme MTYY was "arbitrary" and "discriminatory".
Justice Navin Chawla issued notice to the Delhi government seeking its stand on the plea filed by the convenor of the legal cell of the Delhi unit of Purvanchal Morcha of BJP.
The petitioner, Rajesh Kumar, has sought modification of the scheme's guidelines, saying that in its present form it was "unjust" and "unconstitutional".
Kumar, also a lawyer, has claimed that under the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana (MTYY) scheme "the entire process of collection of forms, submission and selection are being controlled and undertaken by the ruling political party and its agents/ workers without any administrative control or supervision".
The plea was opposed by the Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose, which contended that it was "politically motivated" and Kumar has no locus to challenge the scheme.
Ghose further told the court that around 35,000 people have already availed of the scheme and the role of an MLA, under the scheme, was only to forward an application.
He said it was the SDM who applies his/her mind on whom to select.
He further told the court that under similar schemes in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, an MLA or an MP is the forwarding authority.
Kumar, in his plea, has claimed that under the scheme an applicant has to be submit a voter ID card of Delhi and certificate from an MLA or a minister of the Delhi government or the chairman of the Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti (TYVS), who is also "an agent of the ruling party".
The petition has said that the requirement under the scheme for a valid voter ID card disentitles all those senior citizens who have other forms of valid identification like Aadhaar cards.
It has contended the scheme provides "unhindered power" to the political party to "arbitrarily discriminate and select their choice of people as beneficiaries in order to suit their political agenda".
"The same are leading to illegal misuse of public money to facilitate the agenda of one political party and denying equal opportunity and level playing ground to other political parties," the petition has alleged.
It has sought doing away with the mandatory requirements for a voter ID card and verification by an MLA, minister or chairman of TYVS.
It has also urged the court to issue directions to the government to invite fresh applications under the modified guidelines and to rescind the ones received earlier.
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