On May 07, 2018, The Supreme Court of India held that former UP chief ministers could not retain government accommodation after demitting office.
Later following SC directions, the UP Estate Department had issued notices to six former chief ministers — Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kalyan Singh, Mayawati, Rajnath Singh and Akhilesh Yadav — to vacate their official bungalows within 15 days.
After the action taken on orders of vacating government bungalows by all former chief ministers of UP, now Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur High Court has directed the Madhya Pradesh government to vacate the government bungalows of former Chief Ministers within a month. The court said that the government bungalows of former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi, Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur and Digvijay Singh should be vacated within a month.
The Bench of Chief Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice A.K. Shrivastava reportedly said that section 5 (1) of the MP Mantri Vetan Thatha Bhata Adhiniyam 1972 (MP Minister’s Salaries and Allowances Act) was unconstitutional, in which there was a provision for lifelong government housing and facilities to the former Chief Ministers.
Former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Uma Bharti, Kailash Joshi and Babulal Gaur have been still living in government bungalows as the former Chief Minister. A few days ago, the Shivraj Singh government had passed a proposal in the Cabinet to give equal facilities to the former Chief Ministers as the cabinet minister. Later it was challenged in the court.
Now, it is a call to action on other states as well where the former chief ministers are occupying the government bungalows even after completing their tenure years ago.
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