June 29, 1998

Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani serves final notice on VIPs refusing to vacate official bungalows.

By Sayantan Chkravarty

Routine, polite reminders have given way to firm marching orders. For those who have defiantly overstayed in the sprawling government bungalows of Delhi, time is fast running out. Having personally put them on notice, Union Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani is determined to get the stubborn guests physically evicted if they do not comply with his orders. At the same time, his ministry has decided to come down heavily on those notables who, in flagrant violation, have built additional rooms, even swimming pools, on their premises.

At least six Union ministers are still waiting to move into bungalows allotted to them in the tree-lined boulevards of Lutyens' Bungalow Zone. Saying enough was enough, the ministry on June 17 drew up a comprehensive "hit list" of 317 violators, including nearly 100 VIPs belonging to various parties, against whom eviction proceedings have already begun.

It's not as if the unauthorised occupants weren't given sufficient warning. Jethmalani had tried to make the overstaying VIPs see reason and move out quietly. His personal letters of April 3, written to 50 of them, were kindly worded: "I am sorry to have to write this to you. But I am under great pressure." The missives ended politely: "... I have to request you, and I hope you will not take it amiss, to vacate the bungalow as soon as possible." Other forms of reminders from the Directorate of Estates followed but they had little effect.

Now, the only thing that stands between Jethmalani's steely resolve and imminent action is the law itself. The provisions of the somewhat archaic Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, are such that overstayers can drag the cases in courts for months as the law allows an illegal occupant to appeal in a district court. Says Jethmalani, somewhat sarcastically: "This is the price a society based on the rule of law has to pay."

So Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, who has been allotted a ministerial bungalow on 8 Krishna Menon Marg, has to make do with a two-room apartment at V.P. House. The bungalow's current occupant, former industry minister Murasoli Maran, is in no hurry to move out. Says Sinha: "I was busy lobbying for the nation's budget and had no time lobbying for the house." Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje Scindia can't move into the 1 Sunehri Bagh Road house allotted to her because the present occupant, former minister Kanti Singh, refuses to budge despite her allotment being cancelled.

Minister of State for Agriculture Som Pal bides his time as S. Venugopalachari continues to occupy the 11 Race Course Road bungalow allotted to him. Union ministers Kashi Ram Rana and K.M.R. Janarthanam are unable to move in as the current occupants, former ministers Y.K. Alagh and R.K. Kumar, are on vacation. And Labour Minister S.N. Jatia's 1 Race Course Road bungalow is still in possession of Sis Ram Ola. Nevertheless, the ministry has been able to accommodate 25 ministers in official bungalows, while seven others, including L.K. Advani, Ramakrishna Hegde and Nitish Kumar, have chosen to continue residing in their existing houses.

The Urban Affairs Ministry has also initiated action against those who have made unauthorised constructions inside official bungalows in blatant violation of guidelines issued by the Prime Minister's Office in April 1996. Among the 22 prominent violators is former President S.D. Sharma, who has allowed two additional rooms to come up near the office block and kitchen at his Safdarjung Road house. Similarly, former Union minister K. Karunakaran, to keep himself fit, has built a swimming pool at his 9 Krishna Menon Marg bungalow -- all of it over 500 sq feet with an additional room nearby.

And at 35 Lodhi Estate, Priyanka Gandhi has turned a blind eye to the construction of a "rest room" by the commandos of the Special Protection Group. Nitish Kumar, who has curiously preferred not move out of his modest bungalow at Bishamber Dutt Marg, also figures among the "unauthorised builders". On his front lawn has come up a large hall and an extra room near the office block. Kumar, though, dismisses the idea of demolishing the structures: "People come from far to see me, where do you think I should make them wait, on my head?" he shot back when questioned.

Even the Comptroller and Auditor General of India V.K. Shunglu -- whose office scrutinises every official irregularity in detail -- figures in the list. As do Union ministers Dilip Ray, S.N. Jatia, Kabindra Purkayastha and Dalit Ezhilmalai, MPs Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar, Raj Babbar, Jayant Malhoutra, former MPs Lalit Oraon, Mahendra Prasad and M.S. Bitta. Worse, even the ruling BJP's Ashoka Road headquarters is among the building violators.

What is intriguing is the manner in which individuals and offices, served eviction orders years ago, are clinging on to their premises. For instance, the Akhil Bharatiya Hindi Sanstha Sangh has held on illegally to its Kotla Road bungalow since last January; the Samajwadi Sahitya Nyas at Rouse Avenue should have moved out after October 24, 1996, the Mahila Dakshita Samiti's allotment term for its Fire Brigade Lane building expired on July 1, 1993; the Kashi Nagri Pracharani Sabha continues to operate from its Sunehri Bagh Lane premises despite orders on November 18, 1993 for physical eviction; and the Hinduja-backed IndusInd Foundation has stuck on to a Rouse Avenue accommodation unlawfully since October 1, 1995.

In the past, former ministers and MPs seldom bothered to pay heed to routine letters asking them to vacate their bungalows. So, when Jethmalani wrote to these political stalwarts on April 3, they chose to treat it as another routine reminder. Today, that indifference has boomeranged. Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav who has lorded over 9 Akbar Road for a decade, unmindful of past notices for overstaying, now suddenly realises that an eviction case is staring him in the face.

Former Union health minister M.L. Fotedar was asked to vacate his 6, Kushak Road bungalow on June 15. Fotedar, a high-profile cabinet colleague of former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, has overstayed in the verdant premises since December 1996. Two houses away from Fotedar, Matang Singh -- another high-flier in the Rao government -- is being shown the door of his own bungalow at 4 Kushak Road. For the record, Singh has been overstaying since May 2. Eviction proceedings have also been set in motion against Srikant Jena, M. Maqbool Dar and Chaturanan Mishra, all ministers in the I.K. Gujral government. Displaying characteristic obduracy, the three chose to stay on in their spacious bungalows even though their time ran out on April 19.

For years, Ajit Singh, former MP and son of the late prime minister Charan Singh, has held on to his 18 Akbar Road bungalow. Jethmalani, howevver, has decided not to drag his feet over the matter and Singh's eviction case is now being heard by the ministry's estates officer.

Given the lengthy list of former ministers, MPs and political party chiefs all earmarked for eviction, Jethmalani has his job cut out. The legal luminary knows that the law will take its own course. But at least he is determined to follow the cases through to their logical ends.

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