SC notice to UP for not evicting ex-CMs from official residences

In fresh trouble for nearly half-a-dozen former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court has slapped a contempt notice on the Rajya Sampati Department of the state for not getting vacated their houses despite its time-bound orders.

Acting on a petition by an NGO Lok Prahari, the apex court served the contempt notice on the state estate department, which is responsible for allocation of houses to former chief ministers.

Earlier, on a public interest litigation (PIL) by the same NGO, the Supreme Court had asked the estate department to evict these former chief ministers from their official houses.

It had fixed a timeline of two months for the order to be complied with, but even after passage of five months, the order still awaits compliance.

The former chief ministers whose houses have to be vacated are Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rajnath Singh, Narayan Dutt Tiwari and Akhilesh Yadav.

The family of late Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta is also occupying a government bungalow and has been asked to vacate.

--IANS

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