Cash-for-query row- TMC MP Mahua Moitra issued show-cause notice after she fails to vacate govt bungalow

Cash-for-query row: TMC MP Mahua Moitra issued show-cause notice after she fails to vacate govt bungalow

The Directorate of Estates (DoE) issued a notice on Monday to Mahua Moitra, former TMC Lok Sabha MP, for failing to vacate her government bungalow and asked her to respond within three days, news agency PTI reported citing a source within the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

The Trinamool Congress leader, who faced expulsion from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year, had previously been ordered to vacate the residence by January 7 following the cancellation of her allotment. Currently, the DoE has directed her to respond to the notice within three days.

“A show cause notice has been issued to Mahua Moitra, seeking her reply within three days as to why she has still not vacated her government accommodation,” the source said.

Despite the deadline expiring on Sunday (January 7) and Moitra continuing to occupy the property, the Directorate of Estates (DoE) invoked the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, by issuing a notice.

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On January 4, the Delhi High Court instructed Moitra to formally request the Directorate of Estates (DoE) to continue occupying the government-acquired accommodation assigned to her.

Justice Subramonium Prasad, hearing the TMC leader’s challenge against an official notification instructing her to vacate the government bungalow by January 7 after the cancellation of the allotment due to her expulsion, observed that regulations allowed authorities to permit a resident to stay beyond the allocated time for up to six months under certain conditions, subject to payment of specific charges.

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The court permitted Moitra to retract her petition and pointed out that it hadn’t made any judgments on the case’s substance. It outlined that the Directorate of Estates should decide after considering the matter independently.

Additionally, the court stated that eviction necessitates prior notice to the resident and that the government must follow due process in evicting the petitioner following the law.

Moitra faced expulsion from the Lok Sabha on December 8, 2023, after being found guilty of “unethical conduct” for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her Parliament website user ID and password with him.