Delhi Court Raps Centre For Delaying Decision In Allotting Bungalow To Arvind Kejriwal
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre for delaying its decision in allotting a residential accommodation to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital.
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New Delhi:
On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court criticized the Centre for procrastinating on its decision regarding residential accommodation allocation for former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital.
Justice Sachin Datta remarked that the government's approach appeared to be a "free system for all" and emphasized that it couldn't be selective about housing allocations.
The judge directed the Centre to provide, by September 18, records detailing the policy for allotment of houses from the general residential accommodation pool and the current waiting list.
The court was addressing AAP's petition seeking directives for the Centre to allocate residential premises to Mr Kejriwal in Delhi.
Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, representing AAP, pointed out that although government counsel had previously requested time to get instructions on allocating the 35 Lodhi Estate bungalow to Mr Kejriwal, it was subsequently assigned to someone else.
The bungalow had been vacated by BSP leader Mayawati in May this year.
Mehra stated that the central government's counsel repeatedly requested passovers citing the Additional Solicitor General's (ASG) unavailability.
He argued that during the last two hearings, the Centre continued delaying the matter in court while proceeding to allocate the bungalow elsewhere.
ASG Chetan Sharma acknowledged that bungalow 35 Lodhi Estate was allotted to a minister of state (MoS) and requested time to return with allocation details.
Sharma contended that political parties couldn't demand specific bungalows, noting a "long waiting list" for government accommodations.
He stated Mr Kejriwal would receive accommodation "as and when it becomes possible".
The high court also requested the Centre to specify when exactly 35 Lodhi Estate was allocated to the MoS.
"This is completely unacceptable, you've allocated 35 Lodhi Estate while requesting passovers. You show no interest in this matter. The same occurred last time and the previous day too. There was a clear direction for records. The waiting list cannot hinder allocation. It never has in the past," stated the judge.
The court added, "I need to understand the governing policy for general pool allotments. What is the waiting list? You cannot cherry-pick. I want to know when 35 Lodhi Estate was allocated - before or after August 26, which is crucial."
AAP stated that under guidelines for allocating accommodation from the general pool to political parties, recognized national party presidents are entitled to one government residence in Delhi, provided they neither own a house nor have been allotted one in any other official capacity.
"All prerequisites are satisfied. We have a national convenor who is also the national president. We're requesting a centrally located residence," their counsel stated.
AAP claimed they initially wrote to authorities on September 20 last year with a subsequent reminder, but no action followed.
The petition mentioned that Mr Kejriwal vacated his official residence at 6, Flagstaff Road on October 4, 2024 after resigning as chief minister.
Since then, he has been residing at another party member's official residence near Mandi House, it added.