Supreme Court reins in on illegal occupants of Lutyens' bungalows

The report explained how 22 former ministers, including Lalu Prasad, A. Raja, S.M. Krishna, Mukul Roy, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Subodh Kant Sahai, Mukul Wasnik and Harish Rawat, and retired bureaucrats were illegally occupying government accommodation.

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Supreme Court reins in on illegal occupants of Lutyens' bungalows
Former CAG Vinod Rai.

Vinod Rai
Former CAG Vinod Rai.

Taking a serious view of rampant overstaying in official bungalows by former ministers, ex-MPS and retired bureaucrats, the Supreme Court on Friday sought an explanation from the Central government on the issue and appointed a senior lawyer to assist it in the matter. Making it clear that it is determined to crack down on the menace, a bench headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha issued the order in response to a letter on the issue written by former CAG Vinod Rai, who based his missive on the report "22 Ex-Ministers Refused to Vacate Lutyens Home" in the Mail Today dated May 8.

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The bench converted Rai's letter, with which a copy of the news report was attached, into a public interest litigation and sought the Centre's reply in three weeks. The report explained how 22 former ministers, including Lalu Prasad, A. Raja, S.M. Krishna, Mukul Roy, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Subodh Kant Sahai, Mukul Wasnik and Harish Rawat, and retired bureaucrats were illegally occupying government accommodation. The bench appointed senior advocate Shyam Divan as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter. Rai told Mail Today: "I have said it in my letter that it is unfair on the part of anyone to overstay and deny other eligible and serving people, maybe officers or MPs, of their rightful accommodation.

This is compounded by the fact that all of us know when our tenures are ending, whether in Parliament or in government. "This is bizarre. Extension should be either on the grounds of education or medical reasons. But if a minister is saying that he wants an extension because his granddaughter is studying in Delhi, it hardly holds any ground. One month's time should be given and I think it is enough for anybody to vacate the accommodation," Rai said.

The list of illegal occupants was given by the government in response to a Right To Information (RTI) application filed by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal. The government's reply said Raja resigned as minister in November 2010 but retained bungalow 2-A, Moti Lal Nehru Marg. The report said Maran relinquished the post of union minister in July 2011, Bansal resigned in May 2013, and Krishna was not in the union cabinet since October 2012 but they all occupied Type VII or Type VII category houses.

The unauthorised occupation of government accommodation violates a verdict delivered by the apex court on July 7 last year, in which it allowed authorities to use reasonable force for evicting the occupants. It also set a timeframe of up to two months for people to vacate official accommodation after the end of their entitlement period.

If according to the Estate Officer, the occupant's case is not genuine, not more than 15 days should be granted. Thereafter, reasonable force under the law may be used, the court had said in its judgment. The "squatters" are not only restricted to plain unauthorised occupation. Former union ministers Lalu Yadav and Buta Singh are special residents of Lutyens' zone, continuing to live in their ministerial bungalows on liberal concessional lease rent terms.

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The report said MPs, ministers and bureaucrats should immediately leave their premises after demitting office but the occupant can be given a extension of not more than 30 days if his reason to occupy the premises is genuine. In case of a member of the judiciary, a judge has to leave the premises within 30 days after retirement and this can be extended for another month.

The SC's judgement further said: "Since allotment of government accommodation is a privilege given to ministers and members of parliament, the matter of unauthorized retention should be intimated to the Speaker/ Chairman of the House."