Rajasthan HC issues notice to Gehlot govt on contempt petition, seeks reply within 6 weeks.

Source – indiatoday.in

The Rajasthan High Court has issued a notice to the Ashok Gehlot government and the Rajasthan Chief Secretary DB Gupta on a contempt petition ordering them to reply within six weeks.

The petitioner, 88-year-old Milap Chand Dandia, had assiduously fought and won the case, seeking quashing of lifetime benefits at Government expense being availed by former chief ministers in Rajasthan.

The notice was issued by a two-judge bench of Rajasthan High Court. The petitioner, Milap Chand Dandia, was represented by his lawyer Vimal Chaudhari in the Court.

The contempt petition was filed, as per Dandia, as the Government did not respond to the letter sent to the chief secretary, seeking implementation of the Court’s order.

“Court has issued a notice to Rajasthan Government and Chief Secretary, DB Gupta, seeking reply within six weeks time,” Vimal Choudhary, lawyer of petitioner Milap Chand Dandia.

The Gehlot dispensation has, as per Dandia, not implemented the Court’s order even after more than two months have passed since the High Court gave its verdict in the case, barring former Chief Ministers from availing lifetime benefits in Rajasthan.

“Actually, the judgment on my petition, in which I requested the High Court, that the lifetime facilities, like free housing and many other things … should be quashed. So, on the 4th of September, the Court accepted our petition and ordered that the relevant law, which was passed by the Vidhan Sabha, was quashed,” petitioner Milap Chand Dandia, had earlier mentioned.

Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, had claimed that the Government will decide the matter of Government bungalows on the basis of seniority.

On the day the verdict was delivered by the Rajasthan High Court, Gehlot said, “It is not necessary that this decision that has any link with her (Vasundhara Raje) vacating the bungalow. No link is there. The government will decide as per our policy of giving bigger bungalows to seniors.”

Rajasthan High Court, in a significant judgment, had ordered on September 4, that former chief ministers will not avail lifetime benefits in the state on Government expense.

The Rajasthan High Court verdict essentially meant that former chief ministers in Rajasthan including Vasundhara Raje, Jagannath Pahadia were to be barred from availing lifetime benefits of free bungalow, a staff of 10 members, vehicle and other benefits.

The former Raje government had introduced the bill in 2017 had provisions for lifetime benefits for former Chief Ministers in the state. It was subsequently passed by the state assembly. It is worth noting that the Raje Government had, shortly before vacating office in 2018, allotted the 13, Civil Lines bungalow in the posh Civil lines area, in her name.