Hearing a contempt petition against some of the state’s former chief ministers for non-payment of fees, the Uttarakhand High Court issued a notice of cause for demonstration to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday.
The court ordered Koshyari to submit his response on the breach of his previous order on the payment of fees. The former prime minister’s lawyer, BD Upadhyay, said: “We will respond to the notification within four weeks.”
On May 3, 2019, the court ordered four former CMs to pay the market rent of Rs 2.8 million for the buildings occupied by them within six months. It had also ordered that within four months the entire amount to be paid for amenities, such as electricity, water and gasoline, be recalculated and that the former prime ministers be informed who, within six months, will pay said amount to the state government.
Also read: Former Uttarakhand CM, 250 Congressional workers booked for violating Covid-19 regulations
The court had made the order after hearing a PIL filed by Dehradun-based NGO Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, which challenged the former chief ministers’ free residency, car, security and other benefits in 2010.
Judge Sharad Sharma’s sole bench heard the contempt petition filed against Koshyari on Tuesday. “We inform the court that the petition can be upheld in its entirety even if the defendant is an acting governor. We have complied with the requirement in section 361 (4) of the Indian Constitution and we have already notified Koshyari sixty days in advance before filing this contempt petition. The court heard the matter and notified Koshyari, giving him four weeks to respond to it, ”said the petitioner’s lawyer.
According to Article 361 (4) of the Constitution of India, “any civil proceeding in which redress is claimed against the president or governor of a state, shall be commenced during his tenure in any court with respect to any act carried out or pretending to be carried out by him in a personal capacity, either before or after assuming his position as President, or as Governor of said State, until the expiration of the two months following the delivery of the written notification to the President or Governor . ”
The other three former senior ministers to whom the court had requested a response in early September this year are Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Vijay Bahuguna and Bhuvan Chand Khanduri. While the Nishank matter was heard recently, Bahuguna and Khanduri have filed special leave petitions in the Supreme Court.
.
