The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the former union minister Sharad Yadav to vacate the official bungalow allotted to him as a Member of Parliament in Lutyens Delhi till May 31, 2022. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Sanjiv Khanna and Surya Kant granted time till May 31 to Yadav to vacate his bungalow, on humanitarian grounds. It has asked Yadav to furnish an undertaking within a week to the effect that he will vacate the bungalow by then.
The bench said that in the event of failure to submit the undertaking within a week, Yadav will have to vacate the premises immediately in compliance with an order of the Delhi High Court.
“Having heard the counsel, we are of the view that the end of justice would be met purely on humanitarian grounds, if the time to vacate the premises is granted to the petitioner under May 31, 2022 subject to his filing an undertaking that he shall vacate on or before the said date. The undertaking shall be filed within a period of one week from today failing which the petitioner shall lose the benefit of this order and would be liable to vacate immediately as per the order of the High Court,” the order of the apex court stated.
SC asks Centre to consider Sharad Yadav’s plea to retain bunglow on humanitarian grounds’
Yadav, disqualified from Rajya Sabha membership in December 2017, had approached the apex court seeking to retain his bungalow and challenged the Delhi High Court’s March 15 order by which it asked him to vacate the government bungalow in 15 days. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, argued that it may be possible to resolve the matter at this stage if reasonable time is granted to the petitioner to vacate the premises.
He added that having due regard to the fact that Yadav is in serious medical condition at present, he seeks to vacate the premises by May 31, 2022, and would file an undertaking to this effect. Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Centre, claimed that for the past 15 days Yadav has been attending public functions.
He said that a week’s time may be granted to vacate the premises but at the most, the court can grant time till the end of April. Earlier, the top court had asked the Centre to consider on “humanitarian grounds” plea of Yadav to retain his bungalow, where he has been residing for the last 22 years, till July this year.
It had asked the ASG to take instructions from the government and consider the matter on humanitarian grounds. Earlier, ASG Jain had said the government is facing a shortage of houses for MPs and Ministers, which turned more acute after the expansion of the Cabinet.
Filing the appeal through advocate Javedur Rahman, Yadav in his appeal against the High Court order said that his challenge to the Rajya Sabha Chairperson’s decision disqualifying him is still pending before the High Court and that he could not be evicted from the bungalow given his “grave health conditions” till a final decision is rendered by the High Court. Yadav had challenged the High Court which directed him to vacate within 15 days a government bungalow here on the ground that he was disqualified as a Rajya Sabha MP in 2017 and so there can be no justification for retaining it.
It had directed Yadav to hand over the bungalow at 7, Tuqhlak Road to the government within 15 days saying more than four years have elapsed since he was disqualified as an MP. The petition by the 75-year-old Yadav said he is in the “unfortunate position” where he has suffered great prejudice as almost his entire tenure has elapsed without him being able to represent his state in the Rajya Sabha.
Yadav’s appeal in the top court stated, “He is not receiving any salary or other perquisites and now his sole residential accommodation where he has been residing for the last 22 years are sought to be taken away without him having had an effective hearing on merits before any judicial authority.” His case “deserved sympathetic treatment” on account of his ill health, stated the plea, adding that he has been hospitalised 13 times since July 2020 and was last discharged in February.
It further said, “As such, the impugned order directing relocation will require exertion, stress, and exposure to the general public and place the life of the petitioner in peril.’ He said his current term in the Rajya Sabha is expiring on July 7, 2022, at the end of which, he would in any event be required to vacate the residential accommodation. “As such, no grave prejudice would be caused to the Respondents (Centre) if the Petitioner is allowed to continue in his residential accommodation till the end of his term,” added the plea.
The plea which, as an interim relief, has sought a stay on the High Court order of March 15, said Yadav has challenged the order of disqualification by way of a writ petition. The petition said Yadav was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha on December 4, 2017, in terms of Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for purportedly having given up the membership of his party. Yadav was then an MP of Bihar’s ruling JD(U), which had sought his disqualification for attending an opposition rally in Patna.
The High Court order had come on an application filed by the Centre seeking to lift a stay on the vacation of the government bungalow occupied by him in the national capital as he was disqualified as an MP. It had said until and unless Yadav’s disqualification is set aside, he has no right to occupy the government accommodation. The High Court had added that the provision of perks, including residential accommodation are provided to the functionaries of the state to enable them to discharge their duties.
Yadav had approached the High Court in 2017 challenging his disqualification from Rajya Sabha on several grounds, including that he was not given any chance to present his views by the House chairman before he passed the order.
