The court directed the personal appearance of the commissioner secretary to the estates department on the next date of hearing of December 12
A division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh high court, headed by chief justice Tashi Rabstan, on Tuesday directed the personal appearance of the estates department commissioner secretary in a public interest litigation pertaining to unauthorised occupation of government bungalows by former ministers and former legislators.
The bench comprising Rabstan and justice MA Chowdhary expressed deep anguish and displeasure over the lackadaisical approach of the estates department in not initiating eviction proceedings against the illegal occupants, stated advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, counsel of the petitioner.
Consequently, the court directed the personal appearance of the commissioner secretary to the estates department on the next date of hearing of December 12 to explain the position with regard to dilatory tactics adopted by the department for not initiating eviction proceedings against the ex-ministers and ex-legislators.
The court also directed the senior additional advocate general SS Nanda appearing for estates department to file latest status report explaining steps taken for eviction of the unauthorised occupants in accordance with law their number and why the commercial rental charges not being levied on them for the period when they were not entitled to hold any official accommodation.
Notably, the last elected government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fell apart on June 19, 2018̣, but the former ministers and ex-legislators of the BJP continue to occupy government bungalows in violation of the law.
Advocate Ahmed vociferously argued that the estates department has double standards as it evicted two former chief ministers (Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah) and more than 180 politicians belonging to different political parties but extended undue favour to 48 politicians (23 in Jammu and 25 in Srinagar).
“The said politicians were not issued eviction notices despite having lost their entitlement to retain the government accommodation and are also having their own residential houses in the capital cities,” Ahmed submitted.
He also pointed out how a Z-category protectee former minister and former MP Choudhary Lal Singh was evicted from the government accommodation.
The bench observed that the PIL has been sub-judice before the court since 2020 and the estates department has been proceeding in the matter at snail’s pace. “It is very strange that only a request is being made (by the estates department) to the occupants, who have been shown as unauthorised occupants after their no legal entitlement to hold the accommodations they have been holding,” the court further observed.
