Delhi HC directs disqualified Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav to vacate govt bungalow within 15 days

The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed former Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav to vacate within 15 days the government bungalow occupied by him in the national capital as he was disqualified as Rajya Sabha MP in 2017.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla said more than four years have elapsed since Yadav was disqualified and there is no justification for him to retain the government accommodation.

The high court said it was not inclined to continue with the interim order passed by a single judge on December 15, 2017, by which he was allowed to avail the official perks and facilities of an MP including the use of his official residence at Tuqhlak Road here till the petition is decided.

However, the Supreme Court in June 2018 had partially modified the high court’s order, saying that he could retain his official accommodation but would not be entitled to salary and other benefits.

On Tuesday, the high court disposed of an application by the Centre seeking to lift a stay on the vacation of a government bungalow occupied by him in the national capital as he was disqualified as Rajya Sabha MP in 2017.

Yadav had approached the high court in 2017 challenging his disqualification from Rajya Sabha on several grounds, including that he was not given any chance to present his views by the Rajya Sabha chairman before he passed the order.

On the other hand, Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, leader of JD(U) in Rajya Sabha, had sought disqualification of Yadav and his colleague Ali Anwar on the ground that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in violation of the party directives.

Yadav joined hands with the opposition after the JD(U) president and Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, had dumped the alliance with the RJD and the Congress in Bihar and tied up with the BJP in July 2017.

Yadav was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2017 and his term is scheduled to end in July 2022.

Anwar’s term expired in 2018. Both were disqualified under the Anti-Defection Act.

His plea said that the December 4, 2017 order had disqualified him in an "extremely casual and callous way".