Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that if the Delhi government fails to do so, the sum would be redirected from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's advertisement budget for this year. The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Delhi government for not adhering to its undertaking given earlier to provide funds for the Regional Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) Project and ordered it to allocate the share of the project in a week (by November 28). The court, in July, had given the Delhi government two months time to clear the dues for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System. The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that if the Delhi government fails to do so, the sum would be redirected from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's advertisement budget for this year. The bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia kept the order in abeyance for one week and made it clear that it would come into operation if the government does not voluntarily transfer the funds for the project within a week. "If such national projects are affected, and if money is being spent on advertising, we would be inclined to ask the money to be directed to the infrastructure," Justice Kaul said. Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora appearing for the Delhi Government requested the bench to grant some more time but the bench said the case will be listed after a week and if the fund allocation is not made in the meantime, then the order will come into operation. "We have thus little option but to direct that funds allocated for advertisement purposes be transferred to the project in question. At the request of the learned counsel, we will keep this order in abeyance for a period of one week. If the funds are not transferred, the order will come into operation," the Supreme Court said.

During the hearing, Justice Kaul expressed displeasure over the fact that Delhi government, despite its earlier assurance in July, didn't adhere to it and said, "Delhi government had specifically mentioned the balance amount of Rs 415 crore payable by the Delhi government and directed the government to pay the amount promptly but nothing happened." "This project is important for reducing pollution but your government can spend Rs 1,100 crore, on the advertising budget for the last three years and for this year the budget is Rs 550 crore but won't pay for the infrastructure project," Justice Kaul remarked, while slating the hearing for November 28. In the order, the bench said, "Budgetary provision is something which the state government should make. But if such national projects are to be affected, and against that, money is being spent on advertising, we would be inclined to direct those funds to be transferred to this project."