Explained: How are Union ministers allotted bungalows, or made to vacate them?

The housing pool

The DoE is mandated to administer and manage the Estates of the Government of India that include government residential accommodations and other properties across the country. The allotment of central government bungalows is done through the General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) Act. GPRA covers central government residential accommodations under the administrative control of the DoE in Delhi and at 39 locations outside Delhi. All central government employees are eligible to apply for accommodation under the GPRA pool, and allotments are made according to the pay scale, office or position of the applicant.

For serving Union ministers, accommodation is allotted by the DoE, while house committees of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats also go through the process of allotment to MPs. According to DoE rules, Type VIII bungalows, which have seven rooms with quarters for domestic help, are allotted to serving ministers, and sometimes to Rajya Sabha MPs when the house panel clears it.

At 12-Janpath in New Delhi on Wednesday. The Directorate of Estate sent a team to vacate the bungalow occupied by LJP MP Chirag Paswan. (Express Photo: Anil Sharma)

Eviction process

Eviction of occupants is governed by the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act. Failure to vacate accommodation within the prescribed period results in cancellation of allotment with penal consequences such as charging of damages and eviction proceedings. Usually, occupants are asked to vacate their premises within 30 days of getting a showcause notice.

When subletting is suspected, a showcause notice is issued, and a hearing is fixed. The case is heard by the Deputy Director of Estates (Enquiry). The allottee can appeal the decision within 30 days of the date of the cancellation order. If the appellate authority rejects the appeal, the case is forwarded to the litigation section for initiating the eviction process.

“Usually, the Directorate of Estates sends ample showcause notices to the occupant and wait for their response. In cases where the occupants are unwilling to move even without any court intervention, we send our teams on ground to begin the eviction process,” an official explained.

Evictions over the years

PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA: In 2020, the Congress general secretary was sent a notice to vacate accommodation allocated to her at 35, Lodhi Estate house within a month on the ground that she was ineligible as she no longer enjoyed the cover of the Special Protection Group (SPG). She had been allotted the bungalow on February 21, 1997, as an SPG protectee.

ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY: In 2016, the Congress MP was evicted from his bungalow at 14, New Moti Bagh. He wrote to then Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan that he was “subjected to harassment and humiliation” and sought her permission to move a privilege motion, and moved the Delhi High Court alleging political vendetta. His plea was rejected and he was asked to move to a house allotted on Humayun Road.

AMBIKA SONI & KUMARI SELJA: In 2015, Delhi High Court ordered the two Rajya Sabha MPs of the Congress to vacate their ministerial Type VIII bungalows, which they were occupying even after demitting office as ministers. The Rajya Sabha secretariat told the court they were now allotted Type VII bungalows. They were penalised Rs 25,000 each.

SHARAD YADAV: Last week, the Supreme Court directed the former Union minister to vacate the Delhi bungalow allotted to him as an MP until May 31, 2022. Yadav, disqualified from Rajya Sabha membership in December 2017, had approached the court seeking to retain his bungalow, challenging a Delhi High Court order on March 15 asking him to vacate it in 15 days.

Notices for eviction have been sent earlier to former Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Harsh Vardhan who are both no longer eligible for Type VIII bungalows. On Friday, the DoE sent a notice to the All India Congress Committee asking it to vacate accommodation allotted to it at Chanakyapuri.

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