Mr Chadha has termed the cancellation of the allotment arbitrary and unprecedented. (File)
New Delhi:
In a setback for AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, a Delhi court has ruled that he has no right to continue to occupy the government bungalow given to him after the allotment was cancelled. The court has lifted the interim stay granted to Mr Chadha, which means that the Rajya Sabha Secretariat can ask him to vacate the bungalow anytime.
In a statement released after the court order, the AAP leader termed the cancellation of the allotment arbitrary and unprecedented, and alleged that it was done at the “dictates of the BJP to further their political motives and vested interest”.
Mr Chadha was given a Type 6 bungalow in July last year and had requested the Rajya Sabha Chairman for a bigger, Type 7 accommodation, which was allotted to him in September that year. In March, however, the secretariat had cancelled the allotment, arguing that the first-time MP was not entitled to a bungalow of that grade.
The AAP MP was asked to vacate the bungalow, which is in central Delhi’s Pandara Road, and had moved Delhi’s Patiala House court against the order. The court had granted an interim stay on April 18.
Lifting the stay on Friday, the Patiala House court said Mr Chadha could not claim an absolute right to occupy the bungalow.
“Plaintiff cannot claim that he has an absolute right to continue to occupy the accommodation during his entire tenure as a Member of Rajya Sabha. The allotment of Government accommodation is only a privilege given to the plaintiff and he has no vested right to continue to occupy the same even after the cancellation of allotment,” the court said in its order.
The judge remarked that the argument that the allotment, once made, cannot be cancelled under any circumstances during the MP’s entire tenure “deserves rejection”. The court also pointed out that, as a Member of Parliament, Mr Chadha has no vested right in the accommodation and his status was similar to that of a licensee.
‘Above His Grade’
In June, the Rajya Sabha housing committee had said that the Type 7 bungalow was above Mr Chadha’s grade as a first-time MP and that such accommodations are usually assigned to former Union Ministers, former governors or former chief ministers.
The head of the committee had also pointed out that BJP MP Radha Mohan Das had been moved from a Type 7 to a Type 5 bungalow as well.
