Babus spar, HC judges ‘homeless’

The Urban Development Ministry and the Delhi government has had a series of collisions of late over Commonwealth Games and infrastructure projects.

UD ministry says no spare bungalow, Delhi govt says no land. So who will house the judges?

The Urban Development Ministry and the Delhi government has had a series of collisions of late over Commonwealth Games and infrastructure projects. And the latest bone of contention is providing residential accommodation for Delhi High Court judges. While the ministry says its responsibility is limited to providing accommodation to only Supreme Court judges, the Delhi government has passed the issue forward due to “lack of bungalows and land”.

According to the High Court Judges Rules, 1956 (as on January 1, 2007), a High Court judge is entitled to several benefits, including an official residence, throughout the term of office and an additional month and furnishings for the house up to a limit of Rs 1.5 lakh. For the HC Chief Justice, the ceiling on furnishing is up to Rs 2 lakh. The benefits also include free water upto 3,600 kilolitres and power of up to 10,000 units anually.

In case of rented accommodation, the government pays the rent.

But now, while Supreme Court judges get bungalows from the Centre – the Ministry of Urban Development, to be precise – and judges of the five lower courts in the city are provided accommodation in the form of apartments by the Delhi government through its general pool of accommodation in Shahdara, Dwarka and Gulabi Bagh, High Court judges have missed the bus. “One big problem is that the number of High Court judges has risen and we simply do not have enough bungalows to accommodate them. So we have asked the Delhi government to provide accommodation as it is the state’s responsibility to take care of its judges,” Secretary (Urban Development) M Ramachandran told Newsline.

The number of High Court judges has increased from 30 to 42 in the last six months. Officials said the number is likely to go up further.

“The problem is we cannot accommodate High Court judges through the general pool,” Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta said. “They have to be given bungalows and we simply do not have any. There are a couple of vacant bungalows but these have been allocated to Delhi government ministers; it is up to them whether they use them (but) they cannot be reallocated.

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“We have told the ministry to give us land and we will be more than willing to construct new bungalows. But that proposal has been turned down.”

A member of the Delhi Bar Association said housing for HC judges has been an issue for some time now. “None of the new appointees have received accommodation,” the member, who does not want to be named, said. “There was a proposal in the ministry to give High Court judges land in Chanakyapuri but this has now been shot down.”