AAP MP vs Rajya Sabha Secretariat Over Bungalow 'Above His Grade'

New Delhi:

A row over Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha's official bungalow is set to move to a higher court after a Delhi court put on hold an order cancelling his allotment.

Raghav Chadha, 34, was recently ordered by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to vacate the bungalow in central Delhi's Pandara Road, which he was allotted a year ago.

The bungalow was above his grade as a first-time MP, he was told.

The Patiala House court paused the order, saying Mr Chadha, who was staying at the bungalow with his parents, could not be thrown out without due process of law.

Mr Chadha "would suffer irreparable injury if he is dispossessed without due process of law," said Additional District Judge Sudhanshu Kaushik. The next hearing will take place on July 10.

The ruling will be challenged, said CM Ramesh, who heads the Rajya Sabha housing committee. He said Mr Chadha, as a first-time MP, is not entitled to a Type 7 bungalow, which is usually assigned to former Union Ministers, former governors or former chief ministers.

Mr Ramesh said even BJP MP Radha Mohan Das had been moved from a Type 7 to a Type 5 bungalow. He cited similar examples and said the previous allotments were by the Rajya Sabha chairman, and those had been amended by the housing committee.

The AAP MP had approached the court after receiving the cancellation notice. Besides asking for the notice to be declared illegal, he sought Rs 5.50 lakh in damages for "mental agony and harassment".

He told the court that he was allotted a Type 6 bungalow on July 6, 2022. On August 29, he requested a Type 7 accommodation in a letter to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

According to him, he was then assigned the current bungalow from the Rajya Sabha pool on September 3.

Mr Chadha said he accepted the allotment and moved in with his parents in November after carrying out renovations. The allotment was also notified in the official gazette.

He said he learnt that the allotment was "cancelled arbitrarily" and he was informed in a notice on March 3 this year.

Mr Chadha also urged the court to restrain the Rajya Sabha Secretariat from taking any action or allotting the bungalow to anyone else.