Ukd promulgates ordinance, exempts ex-CMs from paying market rate rent for govt bungalows

In a major relief to former Uttarakhand chief ministers, state Governor Baby Rani Maurya has promulgated an ordinance, exempting them from paying rent at market rate for the bungalows they had been allotted by the government as ex-CMs. The ordinance, promulgated on Thursday, came to the relief of five former chief ministers - Bhagat Singh Koshyari, late ND Tiwari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and Vijay Bahuguna -- who were obliged to pay a total of Rs 13 crore to the government as per a Uttrakhand High Court order.

The high court had earlier declared the allotment of government bungalows to former chief ministers as "illegal" and had asked them to vacate the same. Later on May 3 this year, the court had also set a six-month deadline for the former CMs to pay rent at the market rate for the bungalows for the entire period they had occupied them.

Though all former chief ministers had vacated the bungalows after the high court had declared the allotment "illegal and unconstitutional", two of them had approached the high court seeking review of its order for payment of rent at the market rate. Former CMs Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Vijay Bahuguna, in their review pleas, had expressed ignorance about the method followed by the authorities to compute their payment liabilities and had also found faults with the amount charged from them on technical grounds.

In its order last month, the high court, however, had refused to give them any relief. The state government subsequently brought in the ordinance on Thursday, exempting the ex CMs of all payment liabilities on account of their stay in government accommodations which they have already vacated.

The high court order for recovery of rent from all ex CMs with retrospective effect within six months had come in May this year on a public interest litigation by noted social activist and Padmashree awardee Avdhash Kaushal. Kaushal had moved the court in 2009 against the practice of allotment of government bungalows to former chief ministers.

The high court had termed such facilities extended to former CMs as a burden on the exchequer and against the public interest. Uttarakhand Governor Maurya gave her assent to the ordinance on Thursday paving the way for exemption to the ex-CMs from payment.

Speaking on behalf of petitioner Avdhash Kaushal, his counsel Kartikeya Hari Gupta said the ordinance will be challenged in the court as it went against public interest. "My client has instructed me to challenge the ordinance. Once the high court, after hearing the matter for ten years in every detail, declared that payment of rent is in public interest, such action of the government is certainly against the public interest," Gupta said.

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