Uttarakhand High Court tells ex-CMs to pay rent for govt houses

Passing the final judgement on a PIL, Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe declared all government orders from 2001 till date providing housing and other facilities to former chief ministers in the state as illegal and unconstitutional.

The Uttarakhand high court on Friday ordered the state’s former chief ministers to pay the market rent for the entire period they continued to occupy government accommodation since demitting office.

The court has directed that all amount due and payable towards amenities such as electricity, water, petrol, oil and lubricants etc. provided by the state government to respondents shall be computed by state within four months from the date of the receipt of the copy of the order.

Passing the final judgement on a PIL, Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe declared all government orders from 2001 till date providing housing and other facilities to former chief ministers in the state as illegal and unconstitutional.

The division bench ordered the former chief ministers to pay the rent as per the market rate for government accommodation occupied by them for years after relinquishing office, counsel for the petitioner Kartikeya Hari Gupta said. They have also been asked to similarly pay for other facilities provided to them.

The court has directed that all amount due and payable towards amenities such as electricity, water, petrol, oil and lubricants etc. provided by the state government to respondents shall be computed by state within four months from the date of the receipt of the copy of the order.