Government accommodation on security grounds can be given only to SPG protectees and not Z and Zplus security protectees, the Ministry of Urban Development has told the Delhi High Court. In its affidavit filed in response to a plea by Payal Abdullah, estranged wife of former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, the ministry said Payal and her two children, who have been placed under Z Plus security, were “not entitled” to a Type VIII government bungalow. Payal had approached the court to challenge an order to evict from the Akbar Road bungalow, which had been allotted to Omar initially during his tenure as Union minister and then as J&K chief minister. In a separate affidavit, J&K AG Jahangir Iqbal Ganin told the court that the state was “faced with an extremely piquant situation as it does not have an appropriate accommodation to house the chief minister in New Delhi befitting her position and security imperatives.” The court of Justice Indermeet Kaur has for now extended the stay on eviction till August 4, to allow Payal to file a response to the affidavits. Her advocate Amit Khemka also argued that the affidavits had “not addressed the issue of security” of the two children. Payal approached the high court earlier this month after Omar, in reply to the eviction notice issued by the Estate department, said that he did not have any objections to evicting his estranged wife.
