Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has directed the estates department to submit the details of 13 former ministers and ex-legislators occupying government bungalows in Srinagar and Jammu. The department has already submitted the details of 35 such occupants.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) pertaining to the unauthorised retention of 48 bungalows by former ministers and ex-legislators, the division bench of the high court in Jammu asked for the required information by December 15 when the case will be taken up again. The hearing on the matter was held through video conference.
Jammu and Kashmir ceased to be a state on August 2, 2019, after its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated and it was bifurcated into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Advocate S S Ahmed, appearing for the petitioner, accused the estate's department of deliberately delaying the matter by submitting incomplete information to the court when categorical directions had been issued for furnishing the list of 48 occupants with regard to their alternative accommodation or houses either in the Jammu or Kashmir regions.
The estates department, in response to a division bench order on October 18, has filed a compliance report indicating the reply of 35 occupants as to whether they possess any alternative residential accommodation at Jammu or Srinagar. Ahmed submitted that the status report is silent about 13 occupants, mostly belonging to the BJP, including its former mayor Chander Mohan Gupta and former minister Bali Bhagat. The occupants also include Awami National Conference leader Muzaffar Shah, he said.