Outstanding dues being recovered from Lok Sabha MPs, HC told

The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that it has been recovering outstanding water, electricity, and telephone dues from sitting parliamentarians.

The secretariat told a division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw that there were over 300 sitting MPs, ex-MPs or ex-ministers who have dues outstanding against their names.

Advocate Maninder Acharya, appearing for the secretariat, told the bench that the dues cannot be recovered from the ex-MPs.

However, the secretariat has started deducting Rs.10,000 from the salary of the sitting MPs.

The bench reserved its order after conclusion of arguments in the case that was filed in 1998.

The public interest litigation filed by NGO Krishak Bharat alleged that some former MPs vacated their official residences after their tenures ended without paying electricity, water and telephone dues.

State-run telecom company MTNL had in September 2014 told the court that till date an amount of Rs.6.43 crore was still pending against 316 sitting MPs, ex-MPs and ex-ministers. But it has managed to recover Rs.9.22 crore and an amount of Rs 6.4 crore remains pending.

In an affidavit, MTNL said seven sitting members of the 16th Lok Sabha, including a senior minister in the NDA cabinet, had not paid their MTNL phone bills.

The New Delhi Municipal Council too claimed that electricity and water bills of Rs.5.7 crore had not been paid.