Officials, judges who own house in Maha, should not be allotted

The Bombay High Court today opined that bureaucrats and judicial officers, who have at least one property in Maharashtra, should not be allotted another one under any government scheme.

A division bench headed by Justice B R Gavai was hearing a public interest litigation filed by activist Ketan Tirodkar, which questioned the state government's decision to construct a high-rise residential building in suburban Oshiwara for sitting high court judges.

Tirodkar argued that apart from the sitting judges, the government also allots flats to those judges who retire from the Bombay High Court or those judges, who were earlier here and were later promoted to the Supreme Court.

After hearing the brief arguments, Justice Gavai said, "We feel that if a judge or a senior bureaucrat already has a house in the city or state, then he or she should not opt for another house under any government scheme. What is the need?"