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Journalism of Courage
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in its September 13 order has asked the UT administration to furnish within a week a list of politicians who despite having an alternative accommodation, were occupying government houses in the UT’s capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Rajesh Sekhri in its order further directed the administration to also specify the category of the allotted accommodation so as to find out whether it conforms the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Estates Department (Allotment of Government Accommodation) Regulations 2004.
This followed when Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, the counsel for the petitioner, in a PIL drew the attention of the bench that many a allottees in the list furnished by the government have their own houses in Jammu or in Kashmir and as such, they were not eligible for allotment of government accommodation even under its discretionary quota as per provisions in the Regulations 2004.
Moreover, a number of them were in possession of government accommodation which was higher than their entitlement, he pointed out.
The bench asked Senior AAG S S Nanda to furnish these details within a week so that appropriate orders can be passed, as “it will not be permissible under law to provide accommodation to any person who has an alternative accommodation within the meaning of Rule 5 or Regulations of 2004’’.
The allottees cut across party lines and include Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, ex-PDP MP and former minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and former BJP MLA and its J&K president Ravinder Raina.
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