The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to give details of the government accommodations that have been vacated, re-allotted, and the recovery of dues or penal interest made in respect of illegally occupied residences. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar also sought the details of the notices issued for vacating the bungalows and for recovery of dues from illegal occupants of the accommodations. The direction came after the Housing Ministry told the court that out of the approximately 565 illegally occupied accommodations, 347 have been vacated and 69 have been re-allotted. Of the remaining 149, seven were put in another department”s pool, in 14 there is a stay against eviction, in another 55 which were allotted to Kahmiri migrants there is a stay against eviction and 73 units are yet to be vacated, the ministry told the court. It also told the bench that eviction orders have been passed in respect of the 73 illegally occupied units and necessary steps will be taken to vacate them. Subsequently, the court directed, “A detailed affidavit shall be filed by Union of India giving the latest figures of the accommodations vacated, re-allotted, notices issued and the recovery made by respondent No 1 (ministry). The said affidavit be filed within four weeks.” With the direction on February 27, the bench listed the matter for further hearing on May 20. The court was hearing a PIL which has claimed that several official residences for MPs, MLAs and bureaucrats were being allegedly illegally occupied by those who were no longer holding the offices On the last date of hearing, February 5, the court had rebuked the ministry permitting so many government accommodation units to be illegally occupied by retired officials and ex-MPs and had directed the Centre to get them vacated within two weeks and to initiate proceedings to recover dues from such occupants. The court had also rapped the ministry for not initiating recovery proceedings against the illegal occupants, some of whom have been overstaying for over a decade and have racked up dues of over Rs 95 lakh. The directions and observations by the bench had come after perusing an affidavit filed by the ministry indicating that 11 government residences were illegally occupied by ex-MPs, who had together racked up dues of around Rs 35 lakh, and 565 units were under unauthorised occupation by retired officials and bureaucrats. The ex-MPs named in the affidavit included former BJP MP and now Congress leader Dr Udit Raj, former TDP MP Murali Mohan Maganti and former BJP MP Manohar Utawal. According to the figures in the affidavit, 244 out of the 565 units that were illegally occupied by retired government employees were type-II accommodations. Of the 565 units, some were unauthorisedly occupied since as late as 1998.
