Public Interest litigation(PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court against free travel for women in Delhi Transport Corporation buses. The petitioner has challenged the Delhi government's decision to declare it unconstitutional.
Petitioner Ajma Zaidi was asked by a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and C Harishankar how she could say that the Delhi government was unconstitutional. How can she say that the Central Government's approval was necessary to implement it. The court has asked the petitioner to come up with answers to all these questions on the next hearing. The next hearing of the case will be on 21 January.
Petitioner's lawyer Anil Khavera told the court that this would put a financial burden on the state exchequer. The service is run by the tax payers of Delhi. Therefore, the notification issued by the Delhi government on 28 October should be canceled.
The petitioner states that concession should be given to the needy instead of free travel in DTC buses. Whether it belongs to any section of the society. Zaidi says that concession in free travel should be provided to the elderly, minors and poor sections. The petitioner argued that the government stated in a report that an annual subsidy of about Rs 200 crore was required to implement the scheme.
