Uttarakhand government has issued notices to five former chief ministers asking them to vacate their government-provided residences within two months.
Uttarakhand Estate Department, on Monday, issued notices to Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Maj Gen (Retd) B.C. Khanduri, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Vijay Bahuguna from the BJP, and N. D. Tiwari from the Congress “requesting” them to vacate the “government provided residences” by December 16, this year.
In August, this year, the Supreme Court had issued an Order for the former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh (UP) to vacate the government provided residences that they have been occupying. Quoting the Supreme Court Order in the notices, the State government mentioned that the Former Chief Ministers Residence Allotment Rules, 1997, of Uttar Pradesh are applicable in Uttarakhand too since the State was carved out of UP and, in the current case, maintains the same Rules.
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Since the residences to former chief ministers in Uttarakhand were allotted based on the UP Rules, the Supreme Court Order covers Uttarakhand too, the notices mentioned.
In the year 2010, the Dehradun-based Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra ( RLEK ) had filed a writ petition in the Nainital High Court asking the Court to quash the rules that allowed the former chief ministers to occupy “huge bungalows” which are government property.
“The case has been continuing in the Nianital High Court since 2010, but it gained pace only after we recently submitted a copy of the August Supreme Court Order in the High Court. The former chief ministers own personal residences but continue to occupy the government provided bungalows too causing a huge financial burden on the State,”Chairperson of RLEK Avdhash Kaushal said.
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The State government shall also be sending notices on the rent that the former chief ministers must pay for occupying the residences even after the completion of their respective terms as chief ministers.