The Delhi High Court announced on Tuesday that it would hear a petition filed by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) against the alleged freezing of its funds by state authorities on January 10, 2024. Justice Subramonium Prasad’s bench instructed the counsel for the child rights body to serve a copy of the plea to the lieutenant governor’s office and inform them about its scheduled listing.
It is important to note that the petition was initially heard by the Supreme Court and later transferred to the High Court.
“The present petition is received on transfer from the apex court. Petitioner is directed to serve a copy (of the petition) on the respondent informing that the matter is listed tomorrow,” the court stated.
The Supreme Court had directed the DCPCR to bring its grievances before the High Court after the commission complained that its funds had been frozen by state authorities. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the DCPCR, argued before the Supreme Court that the commission’s funds cannot be frozen. He questioned, “How can six million children of the state be told that not a penny is going to come to the commission?”
The Supreme Court questioned why “every dispute” between the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) should land before it and directed the plea to be re-numbered as a petition before the High Court. Last year, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena approved a Women and Child Development Department’s proposal to institute an inquiry and ordered a special audit into the alleged misuse of government funds by DCPCR.
Saxena also directed that no further request for the allocation of funds by DCPCR would be entertained before the completion of the inquiry and special audit. Therefore, the DCPCR has argued that the allegation of misuse of government funds by it is malafide.