New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) Delhi Health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj withdrawing his petition in the Supreme Court relating 'Farishtey' scheme that it alleged was rendered ineffective due to non-payment of dues, shows his claims were baseless and intended to malign the LG, Raj Niwas said on Friday.

The Aam Aadmi Party withdrew the petition fearing its "lies" will be exposed in the court, the office of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor said in a statement.

Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: BJP Yuva Morcha President Kanav Sharma Shot Dead In Sarwal After Dispute Over Parking Spot.

The AAP in response termed the LG's assertions were contempt of the court and an attempt to "manipulate and misinterpret" its proceedings.

The scheme, 'Farishtey Dilli Ke,' was launched by the AAP government in 2019 to provide free medical treatment to road accident victims and encourage the passersby to take them to hospitals for treatment.

Also Read | 'BJP Faced With 3 Aapadas as It Has No CM Face, Narrative, Issue for Delhi Assembly Elections 2025': Arvind Kejriwal Launches Counter-Attack on PM Narendra Modi (Watch Video).

The AAP dispensation last year alleged that the scheme was rendered ineffective due to interference of the LG office. A writ petition was filed by the government in the Supreme Court urging for release of funds for the scheme. It was withdrawn on Thursday.

"It is an 'admission' that all the claims made by the minister in his petition were baseless, false and done with an intent to malign the Office of the Lt Governor," the LG office said on Friday.

The withdrawal of the writ by Bharadwaj vindicates the LG Office and proves that all along he had been indulging in "pointless and malicious blame game" in a "classic example of dragging politics into the Court," the statement charged.

The scheme was never made infructuous, as alleged by Bhardwaj, it said.

The total number of beneficiaries under the scheme during 2022-2023 was 3,698, and was 3,604 till October 2023 ,when the writ petition was moved, it claimed.

"Contrary to his claims in the petition that payments were not being made under the scheme, Rs 4.85 crores (sic) were paid during 2022-2023, and a payment of Rs 4.98 crores till February 12, 2024, were made to private hospitals under the scheme," it said.

These figures, prima facie, neither indicate a "halt" in the 'Farishtey' scheme' nor do they support allegations of "non-payment" by Bharadwaj, the LG office claimed.

The AAP claimed that the petition was disposed of because the payment was released after LG V K Saxena came under pressure due to notice from the apex court.

"This is shameful, as LG stooped to such low that he didn't bother to respond to letters of Chief Minister until he received notice from Supreme Court.

"Only because of Supreme Court's interference, directions, and notice LG had to backtrack, and officers had to release payment of Rs 29 crore," it said in a statement.

The party governing Delhi alleged that the scheme had been made non-functional by LG's "blue eyed boys" in the health department.

"Shameful that due to dirty politics, many accident victims would have lost their lives due to denial of free treatment," it said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)