Rajasthan HC strikes down law allowing former CMs to retain official bungalows

Yash Goyal
Our Correspondent 
Jaipur, September 4 

The Rajasthan High Court struck down a law that allows former chief ministers of the state to occupy official bungalows for life on Wednesday.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Prakash Gupta said that the controversial provisions in question—Sections 7BB and 11 (2)  of the Rajasthan Ministers’ Salaries (Amendment) Act, 2017—was arbitrary.

The high court said in its ruling: “In view of the foregoing discussion, the court hereby declares Section 7BB and 11(2) as arbitrary, contrary to Article 14 of the Constitution of India, and void. The writ petitions are allowed in the above terms”. 

The judgement would affect two former chief ministers in particular—Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vasundhara Raje and Congress leader Jagannath Pahadia. The former had a bungalow allocated to her on December 15, 2018—before results of the assembly elections showed her government the door. The the latter has retained possession of the bungalow since 1981, when he left the chief minister's office, petitioners in the case—veteran journalists Milap Chand Dandia and Vijay Bhandari—said.

Raje introduced the provisions as part of her amendment to the Rajasthan Ministers’ Salaries (Amendment) Act in 2017, when she was still chief minister.  

The provisions allowed former chief ministers to retain not only bungalows, but also gave them phone facilities, vehicles and a staff of 10, including a personal secretary and a driver—all to be paid by the state exchequer.  

The petitioners said in their public interest litigation that Articles 164(5), 195 and Entries 38 and 40 of List II of the Constitution of India provided only for salary and allowances to members of legislative assembly or ministers.

Raje, an MLA from Jhalarapatan, will still be given an official residence, but the decision of whether to let her continue living where she is or to allot a smaller bungalow lies with the state government under Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Dandia said.

Senior Congress leader Ghan Shyam Tiwari, formerly a BJP minister, said he welcomed the decision and said the state government must recover the exchequer’s loses from beneficiaries of such rules.