Supreme Court Pauses High Court Order Over Ayushman Bharat Scheme In Delhi

The Supreme Court has paused a Delhi High Court order asking the Delhi government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to implement the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) scheme. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih also issued notices to the Centre, AIIMS, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi after hearing a petition by the Delhi government challenging the High Court order.

Last month, the High Court had asked the central and state governments to sign an MoU by January 5 to ensure that the central scheme was implemented in the national capital.

The AAP government has been opposing the central scheme in Delhi stating that was announced in 2020 to improve the health systems and fill in gaps in health infrastructure.

Read: "Politically Motivated": AAP Minister On BJP MPs' Ayushman Bharat Petition

The matter threatens to add to the political attacks between the BJP and AAP as the city gears up for the crucial elections to choose its next government.

Appearing for the Delhi government, senior advocate AM Singhvi argued in the top court today that by forcing them to sign an MoU with the Centre, the High Court had redefined the powers of the central government regarding health.

He also argued that if the MoU is signed, the Centre will bear 60% of the capital expenditure and the Delhi government 40%, but the Centre will not take care of any of the running expenditure.

The High Court had asked the Delhi government to implement the scheme in its entirety to ensure that the residents are not deprived of the funds and facilities. Not implementing the ABHIM Scheme in Delhi would not be justified since 33 States and UTs have already implemented it, the bench led by Justice Pratibha M Singh had said.

The court had given the go-ahead for the MoU to be signed despite the Model Code of Conduct being in place for the February 5 elections.

Read: "You Feared...": Lt Governor's Attack On Arvind Kejriwal Over Ayushman Bharat

The AAP has also been opposing the PM-Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) in the High Court, stating that the city already has the "far more robust" Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK) scheme. It had argued that while the central scheme limits the benefits to only 12-15 per cent of the city's population, the DAK scheme has a broader purview.

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj told the court in an affidavit earlier this week that implementing the PM-JAY scheme would downgrade the health benefits in the city.

The matter had reached the High Court after seven BJP MPs filed a petition seeking the implementation of the scheme in Delhi, which the AAP said was "politically motivated".

"The petitioners are political persons, who belong to the principal opposition party in Delhi. The said political party has been trying to impose its wishes on Delhi, even though they were able to win only 10% of the seats in the last election to the legislative assembly," the affidavit read.

The BJP had hit back at the AAP for blocking the central scheme, saying it chose "dirty politics" over public welfare. The party's Delhi unit chief said the AAP doesn't want the people to stay healthy and is only focussed on corruption.