NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha on Tuesday approached the Delhi High Court (HC) against a local court order which held that he has no “vested right to continue to occupy” a Type 7 government bungalow allocated to him by the Rajya Sabha secretariat which later cancelled the same.
As the plea was taken up before a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Chadha’s counsel submitted that the AAP MP had an apprehension about the starting of eviction proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 against him.
Following the submission, the bench, also comprising Justice Sanjeev Narula, agreed to list the plea on Wednesday. On September 8 last year, he was allotted a Type VII bungalow at Pandara Road from Rajya Sabha pool, which was occupied by him since November 2022.
Last week, Additional District Judge Sudhanshu Kaushik vacated its earlier order that stopped the Rajya Sabha secretariat from evicting Chadha from the accommodation. “Plaintiff (Chadha) 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 plaintif f and he has no vested right to continue to occupy the same even after the cancellation of allotment,” the court said. “.. the argument that the accommodation once made to a Member of Parliament cannot be canceled under any circumstances during the entire tenure of Member of Parliament deserves rejection,” it said.
Earlier, in June, the Rajya Sabha secretariat was directed by the court not to evict him from the bungalow located in Lutyens’ Delhi, which is usually allotted to lawmakers who are former ministers, chief ministers or governors, till the pendency of his application and without following the due process of law.
Chadha had stated in the local court that the cancellation of the allotment of his Type VII bungalow did not follow due process of law, was arbitrary, and that no reasons were provided for it. It was claimed by the AAP leader that for removing an MP from the bungalow, reasons must be provided in the letter of allotment.
The handbook says MPs who are former Union Cabinet Ministers, former Governors or former Chief Ministers, and former Lok Sabha Speakers, are entitled to Type-7 bungalows, the second largest category available to Rajya Sabha MPs.
