A division bench of the Delhi High Court Monday recused itself from hearing AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s plea challenging the rationale of cancellation of his type VII bungalow allotment by the chairman of the House Committee of the Rajya Sabha secretariat.
The plea was taken up before the bench of Justices Rekha Palli and Saurabh Banerjee. Justice Palli recused herself from the matter. Appearing on behalf of Chadha, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi requested for an early hearing citing “extreme urgency”. The court posted the matter for December 18 with a direction to place it before the appropriate bench where Justice Palli is not part of the bench, as per directions of the Acting Chief Justice.
In a communication on March 3, 2023, the Chairman of the House Committee of the Rajya Sabha had cancelled the allotment of Bungalow no. AB-5, Pandara Road, New Delhi to Chadha. The AAP leader then moved a civil suit at the Patiala House district court. He had argued before the trial court that he was not given an opportunity of hearing before the cancellation and the decision was taken in “extreme haste” and “arbitrarily”.
The RS Secretariat had submitted before the district court that Chadha, being a first-time member of the Rajya Sabha and a past member of the state legislature, was entitled to Type-VI Bungalow/MS flats/Twin Flats and had no vested right to seek only a Type-VII accommodation. While initially allotted the type-VII bungalow, following a request from Directorate of Estate under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affair (MOHUA) for placing 3/4 higher types of accommodation in the Rajya Sabha pool back to the General Pool, the Chairman House Committee had undertaken a review of the allotments made. The chairman noticed the allotments made to Chadha and BJP MP Dr Radha Mohan Das were higher than their entitlement. Following this, the allotments were cancelled, the RS Secretariat had submitted before the district court.
The trial court, in an order dated April 17 last year, had refused to restrain or pass an injunction order against the RS Secretariat from dispossessing him of the bungalow. The HC had later stayed the district court’s order in October 2023, in effect granting relief to Chadha as it would not require him to vacate the type VII bungalow.
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