Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Friday morning, vacated the government bungalow assigned to her, stated reports. The Directorate of Estates sent a team of officials today to evict former TMC MP Mahua Moitra from her government accommodation, stated a PTI report citing an official.
House number 9B located on Telegraph Lane, occupied by Mahua Moitra was fully vacated by 10 am this morning, reported PTI. However, no eviction took place, said Mahua Moitra''s Counsel Shadan Farasat dismissing all the claims.
Earlier this week, the DoE issued an eviction notice to Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha last month. "A team has been sent to evict the TMC leader from the government bungalow allotted to her as an MP," an official told PTI.
On Thursday, Moitra failed to get any relief from the Delhi High Court which refused to stay the DoE notice and asked her to vacate the government bungalow.
Justice Girish Kathpalia said no specific rule has been brought before the court which dealt with the eviction of MPs from government accommodation after they cease to be lawmakers.
DoE Issued Notice Earlier
The Directorate of Estates on Jan 16 issued a notice to evict former TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha last month, from her government bungalow, sources in the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said.
The Trinamool Congress leader has been asked to vacate the bungalow immediately, which had been allotted to her as an MP, they said.
"Since the eviction notice was issued to her (Moitra) on Tuesday, a team of officials from the directorate of estates will now be sent to ensure that the government bungalow is vacated at the earliest," a source told PTI.
Mahua Was Asked To Vacate Bungalow By Jan 7
The TMC leader, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year, was earlier asked to vacate the house by January 7 after her allotment was cancelled.
On January 8, the DoE had issued a notice seeking her reply within three days as to why she had not vacated her government accommodation. Another notice was also issued to her on January 12.
On January 4, the Delhi High Court asked the TMC leader to approach the DoE with a request to allow her to continue to occupy the government accommodation allotted to her.
Justice Subramoniun Prasad, while dealing with Moitra's challenge to an official intimation asking her to vacate the government bungalow by January 7, noted that the rules permitted the authorities to allow a resident to overstay for up to six months on payment of certain charges in exceptional circumstances.
The court allowed Moitra to withdraw her petition and noted it has not made any observations on the merits of the matter. It said the DoE shall decide her case after applying its own mind.
It added that the law mandates issuing notice to a resident before eviction and the government has to take steps to evict the petitioner in accordance with law.
Moitra was held guilty of "unethical conduct" and expelled from Lok Sabha on December 8 last year for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the Parliament website with him.
