Slamming the Centre and the Delhi government for failing to take steps to ensure better coordination among the various agencies and departments in the capital, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that the Centre and state governments should “show some efficiency instead of fighting with each other”. The court of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, in its order, noted that the “conduct” of the governments showed “a total apathy to improve governance”. [related-post] The noting came after counsels, appearing for both the Centre and the Delhi government, said they were unaware of previous court directions regarding better coordination and governance in the city. The bench also commented on the recent fracas between the Centre and the AAP government and asked the counsels to “tell your officers” to “do some work instead of locking doors of offices”. The court was hearing a PIL relating to steps to be taken to provide facilities for physically disabled persons. The plea — filed by Vinod Kumar Bansal through advocates Sitab Ali Chaudhary and Anupam Srivastava — had sought various directions regarding access and free movement of persons with disabilities. The High Court bench had in February noted that “perhaps the existence of multiple agencies to undertake different tasks with respect to roads, pavements, signages and parking spaces in the city — and amongst which there appeared to be no coordination — was behind such non-enforcement of the provisions, rules and regulations already in place.” It then directed the Centre and the state government to consider devising “new tools/schemes policies for governance of the city” and appoint a “ competent consultant” for the task.
