The High Court on Tuesday asked the Delhi government to respond to a plea alleging that the selection criteria for its pilgrimage scheme, Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana (MTYY), were “arbitrary” and “discriminatory”.
Justice Navin Chawla issued notice to the Delhi government seeking its stand on the plea filed by the convener of the legal cell of the Delhi unit of Purvanchal Morcha of the BJP.
In his petition, Rajesh Kumar has sought modification of the scheme’s guidelines saying that in its current form it was “unjust” and “unconstitutional”.
The plea has claimed that under the MTYY scheme “the entire process of collection of forms, submission and selection is being controlled and undertaken by the ruling party and its agents/ workers without any administrative control or supervision”.
The Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose, opposed the plea contending that it was “politically motivated” and Mr. Kumar has no locus to challenge the scheme.
It 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.
The petition has claimed that under the scheme, an applicant has to 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.
