Eviction of former legislators from govt accommodation|HC grants time for compliance

Source:-https://www.greaterkashmir.com

The J&K High Court has granted government two more weeks to comply with its directions regarding eviction of former ministers, MLAs, MLCs and political persons, and retired IAS officers unauthorisedly residing in government accommodation in Jammu and Srinagar.

A bench of Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey passed the direction after senior Additional Advocate General B A Dar sought time to file compliance report in terms of court’s order on September 28. “(He) sought and is granted permission to place on record the communication received by him from the Directorate of Estate Department, Civil Secretariat, Srinagar, to justify non-filing of updated compliance and grant of further time to file the same.”

Perusal of the communication, the court said, reveals that the Estate Department has taken up the matter with Home Department vide communication on 22 September 2020 and 3 October respectively. “The Estate Department is awaiting the comments of Home Department, therefore, seeks some more time for filing the updated compliance report,” the court said in the order. The senior AAG, when asked, submitted that three more former legislators—former speaker Mubarak Gull besides Ashok Khajuria and Ravinder Sharma, former MLAs, have been evicted from the public premises, occupied by them, very recently.

“Two weeks’ further time is granted to respondents to update the compliance and furnish the details of former Ministers/former, MLAs/Retired, IAS Officers / MLCs / Political persons, who are still unauthorisedly residing in Ministerial Bungalows as well as A, B and C-Type accommodation of the Estates Department, both at Jammu as well as at Srinagar,” the court said, adding, “The respondents shall also file details about recovery, outstanding from the authorized and unauthorized occupants.”