A Division Bench of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh, comprising Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice MA Chowdhary, on Thursday directed the Estates Department to file the latest status report with regard to the eviction of the former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and former BJP chief of J&K Ravinder Raina from the government houses they were occupying here.

The court ordered senior additional advocate general (Sr. AAG) SS Nanda to file the status report by or before the next date of hearing.

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The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking eviction of overstaying ex-ministers, ex-legislators and politicians from the government accommodation.

Sr. AAG Nanda, appearing for the Estates Department, submitted that now there are only three politicians who are occupying Government accommodation, out of which one politician, Ravinder Sharma (ex-MLC) has filed an independent writ petition, in which the court has already stayed his eviction from the Government accommodation.

Nanda stated that the Designated Committee of government of J&K is likely to review the matter regarding the allotment of accommodation and sought three weeks’ time to file the latest status with regard to Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ravinder Raina.

Advocate SS Ahmed with Advocate Rahul Raina, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that there cannot be two laws in one UT as the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Rajesh Sekhri, while rejecting the plea of Choudhary Lal Singh, ex. MP in the instant PIL, had held that security and accommodation are two distinct factors and the Division Bench had based its findings on the basis of the judgement passed by the High Court of Delhi in Subramanyam Swami’s case wherein the Delhi High Court had dismissed the writ petition of Former MP Rajya Sabha who was seeking stay against his eviction on completion of his Rajya Sabha term.

Advocate SS Ahmed submitted that the two high-profile politicians are continuing to stay in government accommodation on the basis of the recommendations of the Designated Committee of the J&K government whereas other politicians have been evicted.

He further submitted that recommendations of the Designated Committee cannot overturn the judgement of the Division Bench which held that security and accommodation are two distinct factors. He further submitted that the then government had evicted two former chief ministers and more than 180 politicians from Government accommodation and a similar principle needs to be adopted in the case of these two politicians.

After considering the submissions of both sides, the Division Bench directed Sr. AAG Nanda to file the latest status with regard to Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ravinder Raina by or before the next date of hearing on 23 April.