Reply to plea on vacating govt bungalow, HC tells Sharad Yadav | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Reply to plea on vacating govt bungalow, HC tells Sharad Yadav

By, New Delhi
Feb 24, 2022 03:01 AM IST

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to Yadav on a plea to vacate the stay with respect to the house, allowing the Centre’s application for impleadment.

The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the response of former Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav on a plea by the union government against his continued occupation of an official MP bungalow in the city, despite no longer being in Parliament.

The reference in the petition is to a legal fight over bungalow 7, Tughlaq Road which is ongoing since 2017. The house is currently occupied by former Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav.
The reference in the petition is to a legal fight over bungalow 7, Tughlaq Road which is ongoing since 2017. The house is currently occupied by former Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to Yadav on a plea to vacate the stay with respect to the house, allowing the Centre’s application for impleadment.

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The application was filed in a pending 2017 plea by Yadav challenging his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha after a fallout with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The court fixed the matter for final hearing and posted it for March 15.

The court said the response, if any, shall be filed by Yadav and Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, leader of JD (U) in Rajya Sabha, by March 13.

The reference in the petition is to a legal fight over bungalow 7, Tughlaq Road which is ongoing since 2017. The house is currently occupied by former Janata Dal (United) leader .

The Directorate of Estates under the ministry of housing and urban affairs allotted Yadav’s bungalow to Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras as the former was no longer a Rajya Sabha member. Paras’ home on Rajendra Prasad Road was to go to Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal. However, neither Paras nor Beniwal have shifted due to the ongoing litigation.

In December 2017, the high court gave interim relief to Yadav on his plea challenging his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha and allowed him to keep the bungalow as well as draw other benefits and allowances.

In March 2018, the high court continued the interim relief with a condition that the petitioner (Yadav) shall refund the pecuniary benefits in the event he fails in the writ petition.

In June 2018, the Supreme Court partially modified the order and allowed Yadav to keep the bungalow but not the salary and other allowances. The apex court had said that the petitioner would not draw any remuneration or be eligible for perks till further orders of the high court.

Seeking to vacate this interim relief, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Directorate of Estates, which administers and manages the estate of union government, on Tuesday told the high court that pursuant to the last Cabinet reshuffle, as many as 43 new union ministers were inducted into the Union Council of Ministers.

It added that it has been unable to provide accommodation to all newly inducted union ministers as per their entitlement due to the shortage of the bungalows.

The plea by the ministry, filed through central government standing counsel Ajay Digpaul, said it issued a notice to Yadav on August 31, 2021 for the vacation of the bungalow. However, Yadav refused to vacate the residential property saying that the matter was sub-judice.

Appearing for the ministry, additional solicitor general (ASG) Sanjay Jain, told the court that Yadav, without any right or eligibility has occupied the bungalow. He said that there is no stay against the disqualification but the former JD (U) MP has been holding the house on the basis of the interim relief granted to him in December 2017.

He submitted that the central government has direct interest in the matter as Yadav is occupying government accommodation even after being disqualified as a Member of Parliament.

“That general pool is already facing acute shortage of the bungalow type of accommodation and many senior dignitaries including some union ministers have not yet been provided entitled type of accommodation (i.e. Type VIII accommodation) from the General Pool,” the plea by the ministry said.

During the hearing, the court asked, “A person who is disqualified is staying in government accommodation. For what purpose he was disqualified?”

When the ASG said there was no stay on Yadav’s disqualification and he was no longer a Member of Parliament, the bench asked : “Still he is continuing with the government accommodation?”.

Yadav has challenged his disqualification on several grounds, including that he was not given a chance to present his views by the Rajya Sabha chairman.

Ram Chandra Prasad Singh had sought disqualification of Yadav and his colleague Ali Anwar on the grounds that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in violation of the party directives.

Yadav joined hands with the opposition after the JD(U) president and Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar dumped the alliance with the RJD and the Congress in Bihar and tied up with the BJP in July, 2017.

Yadav was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2017 and his term is scheduled to end in July 2022. Anwar’s term expired in 2018. Both were disqualified under the Anti-Defection Act. Yadav’s plea claimed that the December 4, 2017 order disqualified him in an “extremely casual and callous way”.

A ministry official, on condition of anonymity, said the case was moving in the right direction and that they should have a final verdict during the next hearing.

HT reached out to Yadav for a comment but did not get one immediately.

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    Reports from the Delhi High Court and stories on legal developments in the city. Avid mountain lover, cooking and playing with birds 🐦 when not at work

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