Delhi HC sets Nov 15 deadline for Rajputana Rifles FOB fund release

The Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the Public Works Department’s (PWD) failure to release funds to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Military Engineering Services (MES) for constructing a Bailey bridge and a foot overbridge (FOB) for personnel of the Rajputana Rifles regiment

New Delhi

A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed the department to disburse the amount by November 15. (HT Archive)

The Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the Public Works Department’s (PWD) failure to release funds to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Military Engineering Services (MES) for constructing a Bailey’s bridge and a foot overbridge (FOB) for personnel of the Rajputana Rifles regiment.

A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed the department to disburse the amount by November 15.

The directions came after DJB’s lawyer submitted that, although the board had completed the task of shifting the pipelines to construct the Bailey bridge, PWD had failed to release the funds for the work. However, PWD’s counsel said that the Delhi government was introducing a new portal for the release of payments, and the secretary of finance had stopped all the division payments. He, however, assured that the same would be released by November 15.

“It is really shocking that despite repeated orders, the said payment has not been released. The court notes that the delays that are being caused are completely unavoidable and PWD has assured the court that the payment would be made till 15th November,” the court said in the order.

The order was passed in a petition initiated by the court on its own, based on HT’s report, “A smelly trail from barracks to grounds: Regiment’s daily battle in Delhi”. The report published in May highlighted the plight of 3,000 soldiers from the regiment who were compelled to march through a foul-smelling culvert four times a day to reach their parade ground, owing to the authorities’ failure to construct the FOB.

On September 26, the high court had criticised the forest department for denying permission to remove 21 trees needed for the construction of an FOB for the Rajputana Rifles, on the ground that the trees were located within a deemed forest. The court had also directed PWD to process the remaining payment to the army, DJB and MES on an expedited basis.

During Thursday’s hearing, the counsel for the PWD informed the court that a fresh application had been filed on the portal for the removal of 21 trees and would soon be forwarded to the Union ministry of environment and forests for approval.

The ministry’s standing counsel assured the court that the application would be processed promptly. Taking note of the submissions, the court urged the Centre to take a considerate decision, emphasising that the bridge was being constructed for the benefit of soldiers.

The matter would now be heard on November 22.

The Bailey’s bridge near the Rajputana Rifles headquarters on Ring Road was inaugurated by the senior army officials on October 18. The Bailey’s bridge is located between pillars 60 and 62 on Ring Road, directly in front of the Rajputana Rifles headquarters. Assembling the prefabricated bridge segments has been completed by the army in the last one month.