What Delhi High Court said on Viksit Bharat Yatra

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked whether there is anything wrong in the use of the term Viksit Bharat (developed India) for the government scheme Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra since such slogans are often used by all political parties [EAS Sarma & Anr v Union of India]..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora referred to the name of the yatra and said that it simply means developed India.“If someone says he wants to make India great, it may be his slogan… Any PM [Prime Minister] from any party will say he will make India great. It [Viksit Bharat yatra] says Viksit Bharat which means developed India,” the Court remarked.The Court was hearing a plea against alleged misuse of government resources for the promotion of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, a campaign to amplify the schemes of the government..Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, appearing for the petitioner, said that Viksit Bharat is also the slogan of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the yatra is being used for the campaign of the party in power. .Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma appeared for the Central government and argued that the scheme has nothing to do with any political person or party as there is no reference to any political insignia or political party.“It is the scheme of the government and does not carry any political insignia, political name or reference… This is a purely agnostic scheme of the government for the benefit of the people,” ASG Sharma stressed.Sharma further cited data to buttress his argument that the yatra has gone through thousands of villages and crores of people have benefited from it.“Once the yatra goes through a village, there will be feedback. We will get to know where we have performed well and where we have lagged. Till now, the yatra has gone through 34 states and Union Territories. More than 11.94 crore people attended the meetings and were informed about the government schemes,” he said..After hearing the argument in part, the Bench adjourned the case to May 21.The Court had already heard the arguments of the petitioners in the case..The public interest litigation (PIL) alleged use of public resources and civil servants for the purpose of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, a campaign to amplify the schemes of the government.The petitioners - former IAS officer EAS Sarma and former IIM Ahmedabad Dean Jagdeep S Chhokar - have also challenged the order issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that directed the Army, the Navy and the Air Force to set up selfie points with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to showcase the achievements of the Ministry..The Central government has maintained that through these yatras, the government is providing last mile connectivity to people who are still out of the government’s beneficial schemes.It has been argued by the Union of India that these yatras have benefitted people in some of the most remote places..While hearing the PIL on January 5, 2024, the High Court had remarked that one cannot have an issue with the government promoting its schemes if there is no political insignia involved and there is no promotion of any political party.Acting Chief Justice Manmohan had remarked that the Prime Minister is also an elected person who is holding a constitutional post.He (PM Narendra Modi) may be someone’s political rival but if the public money is being used to make people aware of the government schemes, there cannot be any grievance, the Court had said.