Edited by Deepali Verma
The Directorate of Estates issued a notice to evict former TMC MP Mahua Moitra from her government bungalow on January 16, said the sources in the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.
The Trinamool Congress leader has been instructed to vacate the bungalow immediately, that had been allotted to her as an MP, they said.
“Once the eviction notice was issued to Moitra on January 16, a team of officials belonging to the directorate of estates will be sent to make sure that the government bungalow is vacated at the earliest,” a source revealed in conversation with PTI.
Moitra. TMC leader, was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year, was issued a prior notice as well where she was asked to vacate the house by January 7 after her allotment was cancelled.
On January 8, the DoE issued another notice seeking her reply in under three days as to why she had not vacated her government accommodation. Further, additional notice was also issued to her on January 12.
On January 4, the Delhi High Court directed the TMC leader to approach the DoE with a request to permit her an extended occupancy of the government accommodation allotted to her.
Justice Subramoniun Prasad, dealing with Ms Moitra’s challenge to an official intimation asking her to vacate the government bungalow by January 7, noted that the rules states the authorities can permit a resident to overstay for up to six months on payment of certain charges in exceptional circumstances.
The court allowed Ms Moitra to withdraw her petition and informed her that it has not made any observations on the merits of the matter. Further, it instructed her to approach the DoE who shall decide her case after applying its own mind. Delhi High Court added that the law mandates issuing a prior notice to a resident before eviction and the government has to take steps to evict the petitioner in accordance with law.
Held guilty of “unethical conduct”, Ms. Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha on December 8 last year for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the Parliament website with him.
