E-Paper
Illegal occupation of govt bungalows: File latest status report within 2 weeks, HC tells J&K admn
The high court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh directed senior additional advocate general Monika Kohli appearing for the UT administration to file the latest status report on the unauthorised occupants within two weeks
A division bench of the high court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh comprising acting chief justice Tashi Rabstan and justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi on Tuesday asked the UT administration to file the latest status report on unauthorised and illegal occupation of government accommodations by former ministers and ex-legislators, “who were issued eviction notices in 2018 but they have not been evicted yet”.
The high court directed senior additional advocate general Monika Kohli appearing for the UT administration to file the latest status report on the unauthorised occupants within two weeks.
The next date for the hearing has been fixed for February 27.
When the public interest litigation (PIL) came up for hearing, advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed drew the attention of the division bench towards a latest RTI response received from the estates department, wherein it was divulged that the deputy director estates, Jammu, had in December 2018 served eviction notices to former ministers and legislators, directing all of them to surrender their ministerial bungalows by or before December 21, 2018.
The estates department had also stated that in case of non-compliance with the eviction notices, it would initiate eviction proceedings under rules, including charging of penal rent.
Advocate Ahmed further submitted that till date, neither the unauthorised occupants have vacated the ministerial bungalows nor the estates department initiated eviction proceedings against them.
He said that the estates department has been “selective” in carrying out evictions of the politicians.
Ahmed further submitted that the former ministers and legislators belonging to a “particular political party having access to the corridors of power have been spared from eviction drive”.
In December 2020, the high court had also taken strong exception to the unauthorised occupation of government bungalows by former ministers and legislators in Jammu and Kashmir.
The estates department had then submitted a status report to the high court and named 89 such ministers and legislators, mostly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who continue to occupy the government bungalows despite demitting office.
