The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has recently requested information regarding politicians who have been provided government housing in violation of the rules, despite having alternative housing arrangements. The Court emphasized that according to the Jammu and Kashmir Estates Department (Allotment of Government Accommodation) Regulations of 2004, it is illegal to allocate government housing to individuals who already have alternative accommodation options.

This was established when the Court was addressing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by SK Bhalla, represented by his advocate SS Ahmed. The PIL brought attention to the unlawful occupancy of government residences by individuals such as former ministers, MLAs, MLCs, political figures, Members of Parliament (MPs), and bureaucrats after they no longer held their official positions. Back in March of this year, the Court was provided with a list of 48 such politicians who were involved in this issue.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Rajesh Sekhri issued an order on September 13 requesting the name of individuals from the previously furnished list, who were provided with government housing in either Jammu or Kashmir whilst already possessing alternative accommodation. This request was made to both the petitioner's counsel, advocate Ahmed, and the government's counsel, Advocate General SS Nanda, who represented the Jammu and Kashmir Estates Department.

The order of the court clearly stated, “Mr. S.S. Nanda, learned Sr. AAG shall also furnish as to whether any of the persons mentioned in the aforesaid list has an alternative accommodation/house either in Jammu or in Kashmir so that appropriate order can be passed, as it will not be permissible under law to provide accommodation to any person who has an alternative accommodation within the meaning of Rule 5 of Regulations of 2004.”

The Court was informed that there were certain politicians who were granted government housing even though they did not meet the entitlement criteria for such accommodations. In light of this information, the Court has requested all the necessary details regarding the government housing allocation to the politicians who were listed in the March 2023 document.

The Court is scheduled to review whether the allocated government housing matches the type of accommodation that a politician or government servant is entitled to according to Regulation 3 of the 2004 Regulations. Regulation 3 outlines the specific type of accommodation that can be assigned based on the rank of the minister or government official.

The next hearing for this matter is set for September 25, 2023.