On Thursday, former BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy approached the Delhi High Court claiming that the Centre failed to ensure adequate security arrangements at his private residence in the national capital. The move came as the six-week window provided to him by the Delhi High Court to hand over possession of the government accommodation he had been living in the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone in Delhi to the estate officer ended today.
Subramanian Swamy moves Delhi High Court claiming that adequate security arrangements were not done by Centre as he was directed to hand over of possession of his government accommodation.@Swamy39 pic.twitter.com/zmTmvVtuf7
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) October 27, 2022
Swamy’s lawyer Jayant Mehta submitted before the division bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma that his client had agreed to leave the government accommodation by October 26 after an undertaking was given by the Centre before the court that it will ensure that all adequate security arrangements are done at his private accommodation. However, Mehta claimed that no such arrangement was done by the central government.
The matter was mentioned by Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta before a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, and the court agreed to list the case for hearing on October 31, Monday.
On 14 September, Swamy was ordered by the Delhi High Court to vacate the government bungalow within 6 weeks, and accordingly, that window of six weeks ended today. And on the last of the grace period, he approached the High Court seeking to retain the bungalow for more time.
Shameless blackmailer @Swamy39
— Sourabh Choudhary (@MrChoudharyS) October 27, 2022
Today he has to vacate his Lutyen’s Bungalow since he has ceased to be an MP & it is the last day of the six week notice given to him by Hon’ble Delhi HC.
So he comes up with these senile, baseless and desperate tweets! pic.twitter.com/6I15DAoGAQ
Calling Subramanian Swamy a ‘Shameless blackmailer’, Delhi BJP leader Sourabh Choudhary tweeted that he has come up with “senile, baseless and desperate tweets” today because today is the last day of the six-week notice given by the High Court to hand over the bungalow to the govt.
Delhi HC directs Subramanian Swamy to vacate Govt accommodation within 6 weeks
At this point, the petition looks to be Subramanian Swamy’s last-ditch effort to escape having to vacate the government house allotted to him in 2016. Notably, in January 2016, the urban development ministry of the union government allotted a bungalow on Pandara Road in the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone in Delhi to Subramanian Swamy on security grounds. Swamy was a private citizen at that time, but he was allotted the VVIP house based on threat perception.
Subramanian Swamy was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member in April 2016, and he continued to live in bungalow number AB-14 as an MP. His Rajya Sabha term ended in April this year, but he wanted to retain the house and approached the Delhi High Court seeking re-allotment of the bungalow. In his plea, he had said that it was originally allotted to him on security grounds, and he still faces threats due to his political activities.
The disgruntled BJP leader claimed that the type 7 bungalow should be re-allotted to him as he is a Z-category protectee and there are security guards that stay with him.
But the central govt opposed the plea, saying that the house is required to allot other ministers and MPs. Central Government’s Standing Counsel Asheesh Jain said that while Swamy’s Z-category security has not been downgraded, the question is on the bungalow, which was allotted for five years, and that term has expired.
After hearing the arguments, the High Court rejected the plea filed by Swamy on September 14 this year and ordered him to vacate the bungalow within 6 weeks. The court noted that the appellant has a residence in Nizamuddin East, and directed the govt to arrange for his security and safety there.
