Families of Sisodia, Jain get a week to vacate bungalows, allotted to Atishi, Bharadwaj

PWD sources said the March 14 orders are “routine procedure” and both Atishi and Saurabh have the option of not claiming the allotted bungalows. If these are not claimed, as per norms, till March 22, the allotment offered to them will be “treated as cancelled”.

The orders state that Sisodia and Jain hand over possession of their official accommodations “on or before March 21”.

In a statement, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) said, “This order is nothing but a compliance of the law… it is the law that a minister upon resigning from his/her office is bound to vacate the government residence occupied by them within 15 days.”

Sisodia was arrested last month in connection with a CBI FIR over alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. Since then, two more FIRs have been lodged against him – one by the ED in the same case, and another by the CBI in connection with a ‘feedback unit’ allegedly formed by the Delhi government in 2016.

The PWD order was served on him 19 days after his arrest on February 26 and 17 days after he tendered his resignation on February 28. On Friday, Sisodia’s custody was extended by five more days.

Following Sisodia’s arrest, Atishi stepped into his shoes, taking charge of the crucial Education and PWD portfolios, apart from Woman & Child Development, Power, Art, Culture & Language, and Tourism. She currently resides in Jangpura Extension.

Similarly, the Home and Water portfolios, which were originally assigned to Jain, who has been in jail for almost 10 months since his arrest on May 30, 2022, went to Saurabh Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj currently stays in Chirag Dilli.

The order on Sisodia’s bungalow states: “The Competent Authority is pleased to offer Bungalow No. AB-17, Mathura Road, Delhi (on Vacation) to Ms. Atishi Marlena, Hon’ble Minister (GNCTD).” It asks the occupants to “vacate the bungalow on or before 21st of March, 2023”. A similar order has been issued for Jain’s bungalow.

According to the orders, the directions were issued in line with provisions of the Delhi Administration Allotment of Govt. Residences (General Pool) Rules, 1977 that govern such allotments.

The BJP, meanwhile, launched a fresh attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who, they said, had gone back on his promise to “look after Sisodia’s family” following his arrest.

“Kejriwal had promised to look after Manish Sisodia and his family. But he was removed as minister almost immediately, while Satyendar Jain was retained as minister for nine months while in jail. Now Sisodia has been asked to vacate the bungalow so that it can be allotted to Atishi,” said Amit Malviya, BJP national information technology department in-charge.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana asked the reason behind Kejriwal’s “hurry to abandon” Sisodia. “It has not even been 15 days since his arrest and you passed these orders… is this your humanity? You have done this because you know that the heat of the investigation will soon reach you since he knows your secrets,” he said.