‘Illegal Occupation’ Of Ministerial Bungalows: J-H HC Expresses Displeasure With Admin Report

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has recently expressed its dissatisfaction with the report filed by the administration, stating that it failed to address the main issue raised in a PIL regarding the unauthorized occupation of ministerial bungalows by former ministers, legislators, and bureaucrats in the Union Territory.

A division bench of Chief Justice N Kotishwar Singh and Justice Puneet Gupta directed the J&K administration to provide details about the type of accommodation provided to these individuals and the reasons behind it in the next hearing scheduled for July 19.

“We have reviewed the report submitted in a sealed cover. However, the report does not address the specific issue raised in this court regarding whether a person entitled to security cover would also be entitled to government accommodation, as these are two separate issues,” the order stated.

In 2020, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed, bringing attention to the alleged unauthorized occupation of ministerial bungalows by former ministers and MLAs in Jammu and Srinagar. The plea requested the Estates Department to issue instructions to ensure the removal of the unauthorized occupants from the ministerial bungalows.

The petitioner’s advocates, Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, Supriya Chouhan, and Mohammed Zulkarnain Choudhary, highlighted the court’s previous decision on December 26, 2022, which clearly distinguished between security assessment and entitlement to government accommodation, emphasizing that the two should not be conflated.

Advocate Ahmed strongly argued that based on the court’s earlier decision, it can be inferred that while security cover may be granted to a person due to specific threat perceptions, it is not necessary for the person to be provided with government accommodation. This was also the stance of the administration in the aforementioned case.

He further argued that to this day, the individuals occupying the ministerial bungalows without authorization have not vacated the premises, and the Estates Department has not taken any steps to initiate eviction proceedings against them.

Ahmed alleged that the Estates Department has demonstrated a bias in carrying out evictions, as 107 political figures were evicted from government accommodations in Jammu, while former ministers and legislators affiliated with a specific political party, who hold influence and power, were not subjected to the eviction drive.

After considering the arguments presented, the court stated, “We, therefore, would like to know from the administration as to the nature of the accommodation provided to these persons (former ministers and MLAs) and the reasons for doing so by the next date.”

The bench scheduled the matter for next hearing on 19^th July, 2023.