JAMMU: On Monday, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court rejected Choudhary Lal Singh’s appeal against being evicted from his government accomodation in Jammu and instead fined him Rs. 25,000.

Noting that the plea has been filed by the politician with the sole intention to prolong his unauthorized occupation of the Government Bungalow, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice (Acting) Tashi Rabstan and Justice Rajesh Sekri termed the petition as ‘an abuse of the process of law’. The present application was preferred by Lal Singh, former Member of the Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly of the erstwhile State of J&K, seeking an injunction against the government’s order of evicting him from Government Bungalow Number 2-PWD, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu till Government re-assesses and decides the issue of his security as ordered by the High Court.

Singh petitioned that he was enlisted in the category of Z-Security of CRPF by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. While the persons under threat perception are occupying Government accommodations, a departure has been made in his case, he alleged, because he is a political opponent of the present dispensation at the Centre and in the Union Territory. The government had initiated the proceedings under the J&K Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized occupants) Act, 1988 against Singh, who moved the court vide a writ petition bearing WP(C) number 2443 of 2022. The said writ petition came to be dismissed as withdrawn by learned Single Bench of this Court vide order dated 15.11.2022, and Singh was given six-week-time to vacate the Government accommodation in question. Singh further moved an application, maintaining that the Government of India has taken a categorical stand that people, who are occupying the accommodation for security reasons, need to be protected.

According to the applicant, the stand taken by the Government and orders passed by this Court from time to time would suggest that security of such persons was to be re-assessed and then only, they are to be evicted from the Government accommodation taking into consideration their threat perception and not otherwise, the court noted. The division bench observed that the case set up by the applicant is that since the accommodation in question was co-terminus with his security arrangements, which are required to be made for a Z-category protectee, therefore, in the absence of re-assessment of his security or downgrading of threat perception to his life, respondents be restrained from evicting him from the Government accommodation in question.

The court said that while there is no doubt that the applicant, being a former minister, MP and MLA is entitled to proper security cover, which is required to be reviewed/re-assessed from time to time, however, there is nothing on the record to suggest that there is any policy or guideline which obligates the Central Government or the Government of UT for that matter to provide official accommodation to Z-Category protectee. “Though applicant has admitted that the writ petition filed by him against proceedings initiated against him under the Public Premises Act was dismissed as withdrawn by learned Single Bench of this Court, yet he has come up with the instant applicant with the sole intention to prolong his unauthorized occupation of the Government Bungalow, when the period of six weeks granted to him for vacation of the Bungalow would expire tomorrow on 27.12.2022.

“This amounts of an abuse of the process of law. The security assessment and entitlement to Government accommodation are two different issues and cannot be intermingled to defeat the process of law. The present application filed by the applicant is nothing but an abuse of the process of law,” said the court. The bench judged that the current application was without merit and dismissed it along with costs in the amount of Rs 25,000 that must be deposited in the Advocates’ Welfare Fund within two weeks; otherwise, the Registry will continue to retain the index.