new Delhi. The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Center to consider the matter on humanitarian grounds. Former Union Minister Sharad Yadav’s petition against the Delhi High Court order directing him to vacate the government bungalow within 15 days. The High Court had noted that he was disqualified as a Rajya Sabha MP in 2017 and hence there could be no justification for retaining the official residence.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, submitted Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said the appeal challenging the disqualification is still pending. Sibal said, “Anyway, my term ends in July. So, I will give an undertaking that he will be vacated after the term ends. He was on ventilator, he had to go for dialysis every day. He Couldn’t even move.” Yadav is now 75 years old.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, representing the Centre, submitted that the government is facing shortage of houses for MPs and ministers and after the expansion of the cabinet, the shortage is more acute. Jain said an MP from Bihar has been allotted an official residence and only a few months are left in July.
“Tell us a reasonable time by which you can vacate. We will adjourn the hearing,” the bench asked Yadav’s counsel. The bench also asked Jain to take directions from the government and consider the matter on humanitarian grounds.
After hearing the arguments, the bench posted the matter for further hearing later in the week.
The high court had on March 15 directed Yadav to hand over the bungalow at 7, Tughlaq Road here to the government within 15 days. The court said that more than four years have elapsed since he was disqualified as an MP.
Yadav, in his petition, argued that he has been living there for 22 years and the High Court had passed the order even though the challenge to his ‘unfair and wrongful disqualification’ was not decided by the court.
The petition, filed through advocate Javedur Rahman, said, “The High Court revived a disposed application and passed further orders therein and set aside the interim order of the High Court dated 15th December, 2017 and the petitioner instructed…”
The petition further states that the challenge to the validity of his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha is still pending before the High Court.
The petition states that his case ‘deserves sympathetic treatment’ because of his ill health and pointed out that he was admitted to the hospital 13 times since July 2020 and the last time he was discharged was in February.
—AnyTV News
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