The High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh has sought details of 48 politicians who have allegedly occupied ministerial bungalows in Jammu, Srinagar despite having their own houses.
The petitioner’s attorney, Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, and senior additional advocate general (AAG), SS Nanda were instructed to submit a list of the politicians who own homes in Jammu or Srinagar. The directions were passed by a division bench made up of chief justice N Kotiswar Singh and justice Rajesh Sekhri.
The Department had earlier submitted a list of 48 politicians, 23 in Jammu and 25 in Srinagar, who were using the Government accommodations.
Sheikh Ahmed, who represented petitioner, sought the court’s attention to the laws governing the occupancy of government housing provisions regarding people who are not eligible for residential housing allotment and who own or possess a home in the relevant city or are in default of license fee payment, among other things.
SS Ahmed argued that the admin was adopting double standards stating that more than 200 politicians including former Chief Ministers were evicted from official accommodations.
He also mentioned 48 names which include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shamsher Singh Manhas, Muzzaffar Hussain Beigh, Chander Mohan Gupta, Kavinder Gupta, Sunil Sharma, Ravinder Raina, GM Saroori, Neelam Langeh, Ravinder Sharma, Shilpy Verma, Sajjad Gani Lone, Sofi Yousuf, Abdul Majid Paddar among others.
Senior AAG SS Nanda was tasked by the Division Bench with determining if any of the 48 lawmakers have alternate residences in Jammu or Kashmir.
The next hearing is scheduled for September 25.