HC Pulls Up Estates Dept Over Delay in Status Report on G.N. Azad, Ravinder Raina’s Government Accommodation
Final Opportunity Granted to File Report : Committee Chairman May Be Summoned If Non-Compliance Persists
||Black and White Digital News ||
||Parvinder Singh May 28,2025 ||
JAMMU : In a significant development in the long-pending litigation regarding unauthorized occupation of government accommodations, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on Tuesday granted a final opportunity to the Estates Department to file the latest status report on the housing allotment of senior politicians Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ravinder Raina.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, while hearing PIL No. 17/2020, expressed strong displeasure over the delay and warned that the Chairman of the Designated Committee tasked with reviewing the allotments would be required to appear in person or via virtual mode on the next date of hearing if the report is not submitted in time.
The Public Interest Litigation, filed in 2020, seeks eviction of overstaying former ministers, legislators, and politicians from government accommodations in the Union Territory of J&K. The PIL argues that once public office is vacated, the individuals are no longer entitled to occupy government-provided housing.
On March 26, 2025, the court had granted three weeks’ time to Sr. AAG S.S. Nanda, appearing for the Estates Department, to file a report regarding the accommodation status of Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chief Minister, and Ravinder Raina, former BJP J&K President. Nanda had informed the court that a Designated Committee was in the process of reviewing the matter.
Court Proceedings:
On Tuesday, Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, appearing for the petitioner along with Advocates Rahul Raina, Supriya Chouhan, and Adnan Mushtaq Jaral, submitted that the court’s directions had not been complied with, and that no review has been undertaken by the Designated Committee regarding the two politicians’ accommodations.
Ahmed argued that multiple judgments by the Supreme Court and High Courts have established that government accommodations must be vacated once an individual demits public office, and cited the Delhi High Court’s ruling in Subramanian Swamy’s case, which held that security concerns cannot be used to justify continued occupation of government housing.
The Division Bench took a serious note of the continued delay and asked Sr. AAG Nanda how much more time was required for compliance. Nanda sought a final opportunity, which the court granted, but with a warning that failure to file the report before the next hearing will compel the Chairman of the Designated Committee to personally appear before the court.
Next Hearing:
The court directed the Registry to re-notify the matter for July 7, 2025, and reiterated the significance of the issue, emphasizing that public resources cannot be misused under the garb of political privilege.
Legal & Policy Implications:
The outcome of this PIL is expected to have far-reaching implications:
• It may set a judicial precedent for handling similar cases of unauthorized occupation.
• It reinforces the principle that government accommodations are not lifetime entitlements.
• It draws a clear line between security arrangements and accommodation entitlements.
• The case also puts the spotlight on accountability within administrative bodies and the judiciary’s role in upholding public interest.
As the matter now stands, all eyes will be on the Estates Department and the Designated Committee in the lead-up to the next hearing. The court’s order sends a clear message non-compliance with judicial directives, especially in matters of public importance, will not be tolerated.
