VIP squatters in Lutyens’ zone

Seven former Union ministers — including George Fernandes, Ram Vilas Paswan and Jagdish Tytler — figured in a list of 36 “unauthorised occupants” of government bungalows in Delhi’s posh Lutyens’ zone.

Seven former Union ministers — including George Fernandes, Ram Vilas Paswan and Jagdish Tytler — figured in a list of 36 “unauthorised occupants” of government bungalows in Delhi’s posh Lutyens’ zone.

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This comes a day after Hindustan Times highlighted the fact that the appointment of five Supreme Court judges had been delayed for five months due to the lack of “official accommodation” for them in central Delhi.

The Ministry of Urban Development has forwarded the list of these 36 former MPs to its litigation division for initiating action to get the bungalows vacated.

The cases came to light after RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggrawal, a Delhi resident, filed an application under the Act seeking a list of unauthorised occupants in government accommodation

The list of “unauthorized occupants” includes former ministers Mahavir Prasad, Kanti Singh, Kashiram Rana, Renuka Chowdhury, Shankersinh Vaghela, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Santosh Mohan Dev, Shakeel Ahmed, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Mohammad Taslimuddin, Charanjit Singh Atwal, Mohammad Ashraf Ali Fatmi and Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav.

The names of film star Vinod Khanna, former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and TDP leader Yerran Naidu also figure in the list.

The Department of Estates, the wing of the ministry responsible for the allotment of government bungalows in four metropolitan cities, in its reply, said: “All such cases have been referred to the litigation division for necessary action.”

“Cancellation of allotment is made against the allottee in case of unauthorised occupation and eviction proceedings under the PP Act 1971 are initiated to get the accommodation vacated,” the department added.

The Directorate of Estates in its reply has stated that national political parties are eligible for allotment of one housing unit in Delhi for their office use.

The directorate has also informed that according to policy guidelines the national political parties are eligible for allotment of one housing unit each in Delhi for their office use.

The list of political parties given in the reply shows that while the Congress has been allotted four bungalows — 24, Akbar Road, 5, Raisina Road, 26 Akbar Road and CII/109 Chankyapuri — for their offices, BJP has two — 11, Ashoka Road and 14 Pandit Pant Marg.