3 ex-ministers out of bungalows, remaining one to follow suit

Mumbai, Jun 8 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today disposed a petition challenging the extension granted to four ex-ministers for residing in the government bungalows, after the court was told that three ex-ministers had already evacuted the bungalows and eviction proceedings were on against the remaining one.

Arguing before a division bench comprising Justices R M Lodha and A S Bagga, Advocate Narendra Pandit, representing the Maharashtra government, pointed out that out of the four ex-ministers, Sureshdada Jain, Subhash Thakare and Chandrakant Shivarkar had already evacuated the bungalows after the March 1 court order while eviction proceedings had been initiated against Mohammed Arif Sheikh alias Naseem Khan.

The petition was filed by senior advocate M P Vashi, who brought to the court's notice that four ex-ministers were granted the extension to reside in the bungalows provided to them while in office, after the expiry of their term.

Also, there were pending rent arrears on part of ex-MLAs and ex-MLCs residing in MLA Hostels, apart from those in office.

The court had directed the state to file an affidavit submitting the basis on which the extensions had been granted and what steps were being taken for eviction and recovery of the arrears.

In the affidavit filed on March 14 submitted that there were no specific provisions for granting extensions. However, there were certain notifications that provided that extension could be granted by the government on the discretion of the Chief Minister, who is the head of the General Administration Department of the House.

The court was also told that the recovery of the arrears, had been initiated with a policy of deducting 50 per cent of the ex-MLA's or ex-MLC's pension and deducting the amount from the pay of those in office.

However, Adv Vashi brought forth to the court that the rent, after grant of extension, for the hostel was a measly Rs 250, while for overstaying, the charges were Rs 2 per sq ft.

He prayed to the court to direct the state government to revise these provisions drafted almost two decades ago.

The court, while disposing the petition, directed that for recovery of arrears, if the outstanding amount exceeded Rs 50,000, while continuing to deduct the amount from the pay or pension of the person, the state was also to initiate recovery measures under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act.

Justice Lodha also granted the prayer of Adv Vashi and asked the State to look into the rent provisions and revise accordingly.

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