09-19-2007, 01:28 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>SC raps Govt over misuse of bungalows </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Government's generosity in gifting prime bungalows in the Lutyens Zone as party offices and memorials came under attack in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
<b>Anguished by the Government's casual approach in converting Government bungalows into party offices, quite against the prescribed rules, the court said: "If this is the way the Government proceeds, a time will soon come when most of the Government bungalows will become memorials."</b>
The court's comment was in the wake of the recent decision of the Centre to allot a spacious bungalow to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as its party office and a separate bungalow as a memorial for former BSP chief Kanshi Ram.
Acting tough against the Centre, the bench of Justices BN Agrawal and DK Jain sought the Government's response by Wednesday on whether the Government could arrest those persons (including politicians, artists, bureaucrats and journalists) who continue in unauthorised occupation of Government accommodations without payment of penal rent. In this regard the court had proposed amendments in IPC Section 441 (criminal trespass) to make it a cognisable and non-bailable offence.
The bench also sought to know from Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Amarendra Saran appearing for the Centre to state how the Government would conclude that a person has no means to pay the penal rent. Whether his assets including property, fixed deposits or other liquid assets be taken into account.
The bench said, "You don't have guts because it concerns your vote bank. You hang the peon and leave the big people." What added to the court's worries was the fact that the lost list of defaulters included top political persons including former Bihar Governor Buta Singh, BJP president Rajnath Singh, senior BJP leader Jaswant <b>Singh, three general secretaries of the Congress, Rajmata Gayatri Devi and MP Ashok Pradhan.</b>
While the Centre suggested that it was considering to regularise the allotment of the three Congress general secretaries, there was not a whisper made by it on the pending penal rent to the tune of over Rs one crore.
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Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Government's generosity in gifting prime bungalows in the Lutyens Zone as party offices and memorials came under attack in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
<b>Anguished by the Government's casual approach in converting Government bungalows into party offices, quite against the prescribed rules, the court said: "If this is the way the Government proceeds, a time will soon come when most of the Government bungalows will become memorials."</b>
The court's comment was in the wake of the recent decision of the Centre to allot a spacious bungalow to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as its party office and a separate bungalow as a memorial for former BSP chief Kanshi Ram.
Acting tough against the Centre, the bench of Justices BN Agrawal and DK Jain sought the Government's response by Wednesday on whether the Government could arrest those persons (including politicians, artists, bureaucrats and journalists) who continue in unauthorised occupation of Government accommodations without payment of penal rent. In this regard the court had proposed amendments in IPC Section 441 (criminal trespass) to make it a cognisable and non-bailable offence.
The bench also sought to know from Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Amarendra Saran appearing for the Centre to state how the Government would conclude that a person has no means to pay the penal rent. Whether his assets including property, fixed deposits or other liquid assets be taken into account.
The bench said, "You don't have guts because it concerns your vote bank. You hang the peon and leave the big people." What added to the court's worries was the fact that the lost list of defaulters included top political persons including former Bihar Governor Buta Singh, BJP president Rajnath Singh, senior BJP leader Jaswant <b>Singh, three general secretaries of the Congress, Rajmata Gayatri Devi and MP Ashok Pradhan.</b>
While the Centre suggested that it was considering to regularise the allotment of the three Congress general secretaries, there was not a whisper made by it on the pending penal rent to the tune of over Rs one crore.
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