Revision as of 13:47, 23 September 2016

India’s longest serving Chief Ministers (as in Nov 2015); Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 9, 2015

The youngest Indian Chief Ministers; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 21, 2015

The youngest Indian Chief Ministers; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 21, 2015

Official accommodation

UP bypasses SC order, lets ex-CMs keep govt houses

The Times of India, August 19, 2016

UP bypasses SC order, lets ex-CMs keep govt houses 

The Uttar Pradesh government has effected crucial changes to a state law that would allow former chief ministers of the state to occupy government bungalows for indefinite periods, a move that seeks to cleverly bypass the Supreme Court order on occupancy of CM bungalows. The Supreme Court had, in a significant ruling on VIP encroachment, said former CMs are not entitled to government accommodation and must vacate these in two months. Former UP CMs to be affected by the SC's order would've been Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ram Naresh Yadav (SP), Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh (BJP), Mayawati (BSP) and ND Tiwari (Congress).

With the court ordering all CMs to vacate their official bungalows within 15 days of leaving office, the UP cabinet has amended the law to grant legal sanctity to the government's decision to either allow CMs to continue to remain in government bungalows, or to issue fresh allotments.

SC repeals UP ExChief Ministers Residence Allotment Rules

The Times of India, Aug 02 2016

Dhananjay Mahapatra & Amit Anand Choudhary

6 UP ex-CMs face eviction as SC repeals `govt home for life' 

The Supreme Court has struck down a 1997 decision of the UP government to allot official bungalows in Lucknow to former chief ministers, including Union home minister Rajnath Singh, BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, and ordered their eviction in two months.

A bench of justices A R Dave, N V Ramana and R Banumathi agreed with aPIL, filed by NGO Lok Prahari through S N Shukla, and also struck down the allocation of government bungalows to NGOs and social organisations in posh Lucknow locali ties. The bench has also ordered the Akhilesh Yadav government to recover past rent, calculated according to market rates, from the allottees, who have occupied the bungalows for over a decade. Other ex-CMs who face eviction are N D Tiwari, Ram Naresh Yadav and Kalyan Singh.

The bench said the ExChief Ministers Residence Allotment Rules, 1997, were illegal as they ran contrary to the UP Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1981. The Act permits a minister to retain hisher official residence for only 15 days after demitting office.

On the contrary , the 1997 rules allowed the allotment of bungalows to former CMs for life. The SC said the rules were only executive instructions and could not override the Act. Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Dave said, “The 1997 rules give largesse only to former chief ministers without any element of reasonableness.“

The state attempted to justify the allocation, saying many of the former CMs enjoyed Z-category security and the government had to make adequate arrangements for them. But the bench called it a fig leaf and said the Centre determined the category of security and would accordingly be obliged to provide appropriate accommodation