The Jammu and Kashmir high court on Saturday ordered the Union Territory administration to furnish the details of unauthorized occupants of ministerial bungalows and govt accommodations by former ministers, legislators and bureaucrats.
A division bench of HC comprising chief justice Gita Mittal and justice Rajesh Bindal asked the administration to provide the details of rent, electricity and renovations.
The division bench expressed its anger over the estates department for not taking any measures to evict former ministers, legislators and bureaucrats from these govt accommodations.
Additional advocate generals BA Dar and Aseem Sawhney appeared for the govt. The bench directed the advocate generals to file a detailed affidavit including the arrears of the rent water, electricity and funds spent on renovation, repairs and maintenance, particularly during the period of illegal occupation by the defaulters.
Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed submitted that since June 2018, former ministers and legislators have been overstaying in government bungalows. Advocate Shakeel appeared for petitioner Prof SK Bhalla in the court.
Shakeel also claimed that the estates department initiated a one-sided action and evicted some of the occupants but not vacated the illegal occupants belonging to a specific political party.
Ahmed specifically referred to the list of unauthorised occupants furnished by Sawhney. As per the list submitted in the court, the late ex CM GM Shah, former chief minister and Awami National Conference leader; former BJP minister Choudhary Lal Singh; former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta; former minister Sunil Sharma; BJP president and former MLA Ravinder Raina; former MLA Vikar Rasool Wani, former minister Shakti Raj Parihar, former minister Sat Sharma, former minister Ghulam Nabi Lone (Hanjura), former minister Syed Farooq Indrabi, former minister Zahoor Ahmed Mir, former deputy speaker Nazir Ahmed Khan, among many other former ministers and legislators.
The next hearing is scheduled on December 22.
