SC notice to UP government over accommodation to ex-CMs

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea that challenged a state law which permits allotment of bungalows to former Chief Ministers on their request.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre issued the notice on a plea by NGO Lok Prahari, represented by its General Secretary and former bureaucrat S.N. Shukla.

The amended law was brought in to circumvent the top court's verdict that barred the allotment of bungalows to former Chief Ministers. The amendment was effected within weeks of the August 1 verdict of the court.

While retaining the provision that Chief Ministers will vacate their official accommodation within 15 days of demitting office, the amended law said the government accommodation could be provided to them on their request.

While retaining the 15 days provision in the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 2016, it added a provision that said: "A government residence shall be allotted to a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, at his/her request, for his/her lifetime, on payment of such rent as may be determined from time to time by the Estate Department of the state government."

Coupled with this, amendment was also effected in The Allotment of Houses Under Control of the Estate Department Act, 2016, that sought to regulate the allotment of government accommodations to state government employees and officers, their associations, political parties, journalists, trusts, officers of All India Service, lawmakers, ministers, chairman and deputy chairman of the Legislative Council, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly and Judges.

The top court by its August 1 verdict had directed six former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh to vacate within two months the accommodation provided to them by the state government in their capacity as former Chief Ministers.

These are Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Ram Naresh Yadav, present Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, who have accommodations on Lucknow's posh Mall Road and Vikramaditya Marg.

The court had said the former Chief Ministers had no right to occupy government accommodations as it held the allotments bad in law, being "largesse only to former Chief Ministers without any element of reasonableness".

Directing the six former Chief Ministers to vacate their official accommodation which they were in unauthorised occupation, the top court's order asked the Uttar Pradesh government to recover the rent at market rate for the period they were in occupation of the residential premises.

--IANS

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