Delhi High Court told the Centre that government bungalows must be allotted through a clear policy and not on “whims.” AAP seeks a residence for its chief Arvind Kejriwal under national party entitlement rules.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that allotment of government houses cannot be decided only by the “whims” of authorities while hearing a petition filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The party has sought a government bungalow in Delhi for its national convener and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Justice Sachin Datta directed the Joint Secretary of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Director of the Directorate of Estates to attend the next hearing virtually on September 25.
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The court asked the Centre to explain how the allotment process works. It said,
“Is there a procedure in place? I want to see how this procedure has been applied in the past… How priority is taken into account, sequence of allotment?… Assuming there is a limited number of bungalows, how do you decide?”
The judge also added,
“There has to be a transparent mechanism and it cannot be purely on your whims. As long as there is a clear discernible policy… I want to know the manner of assessing priority. I am concerned with the larger issue as to how the discretion is applied in allotment of bungalows.”
During the hearing, the Centre’s counsel informed the court that the bungalow at 35, Lodhi Estate — the same house AAP wanted for Kejriwal — had already been allotted to Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on July 24 this year.
This clarification was given as the court had earlier asked the Centre to specify the exact date of allotment of the property.
The court further directed that the government must place on record the current policy for residential allotments.
It asked the Centre to file an affidavit showing not only the existing rules but also details of past allotments and how the policy was applied in each case.
Just two days earlier, on September 16, the High Court had pulled up the Centre for its delay in taking a decision on Kejriwal’s accommodation.
At that time, the judge had remarked that the government’s approach looked like a “free system for all” and that it could not selectively decide “who got a house.”
The court had also directed the Centre to file by September 18 the complete policy for allotment of houses from the general pool of residential accommodation, along with the current waiting list.
Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for AAP, argued that the government had earlier sought time to respond to the party’s proposal for allotment of 35, Lodhi Estate to Kejriwal.
However, despite this, the same bungalow was later given to someone else. The property had been vacated in May this year by Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.
In its petition, AAP relied on the guidelines governing allotment of residences from the general pool to political parties.
It submitted that under these rules, the president of a recognised national party is entitled to one government residence in Delhi, provided that person neither owns a house nor has been allotted one in another official capacity.
Mehra told the court,
“All pre-conditions are met. There is a national convenor, who is also the national president. We are requesting a centrally located residence.”
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