Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has been served with a notice to vacate the government bungalow she has been occupying in Srinagar’s elite Gupkar Road. The PDP chief has been given seven days to respond as to why she should not be ordered to leave.
J&K | PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti confirms to ANI that she has been served a notice asking her to vacate her official government accommodation, the Fairview residence in Srinagar
— ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022
(File pic) pic.twitter.com/a8Fkmhaadq
“Upon receiving an unsatisfactory response from Mehbooba Mufti, the Estates Department will issue a final eviction notice, and she will be asked to vacate Fairview Gupkar Bungalow,” officials stated.
The order also mentioned that if Mufti needs government accommodation for security concerns, she will be provided a place to stay.
#BREAKING: Mehbooba Mufti has been asked to immediately vacate her palatial bungalow of Gupkar Road at Fairview. Good move by J&K Govt. You can’t enjoy Govt luxury and then sing to the tune of for Pakistani propaganda. Gupkar Gang Elites for long have enjoyed it. Go to Nowgam. pic.twitter.com/CUU112u79x
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 21, 2022
Suhail Bukhari, a spokesperson of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said, “The Estates Department has issued a notice asking Mehbooba Mufti to vacate the residence.”
Since 2005, Mehbooba Mufti has resided in the Fairview bungalow. Her father, former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was allotted the bungalow on Gupkar Road facing Srinagar’s Dal Lake.
Mufti and many other former politicians, including Nazir Gurezi, were served with notices to vacate their government accommodations on October 15.
Fairview Residence was earlier called PAPA-II Interrogation Center and served as an official guest house until 1989. It got its name after the Border Security Force (BSF) occupied it in 1990.
Reportedly, the centre was used as a regular interrogation facility until senior bureaucrat Ashok Jaitly moved in and used it as his residence in 1996.
It is worth noting that, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature Members Pension Act, 1984, former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir will receive government housing as well as Rs.35 thousand for maintenance and furnishing, a maximum of Rs.48 thousand for telephone expenditures, and other facilities. However, with the adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act on October 31, 2019, the Act that provided those luxuries to former Chief Ministers has come to an end.
Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Omar Abdullah were also forced to vacate government bungalows. Mehbooba Mufti, on the other hand, refused to leave the official mansion, claiming security concerns.
