Expelled MP Mahua Moitra asked to vacate govt bungalow immediately

The Directorate of Estates on Tuesday issued a notice to evict former TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha last month, from her government bungalow, sources in the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said.

The Trinamool Congress leader has been asked to vacate the bungalow immediately, which had been allotted to her as an MP, they said.

"Since the eviction notice was issued to her (Moitra) on Tuesday, a team of officials from the directorate of estates will now be sent to ensure that the government bungalow is vacated at the earliest," a source told PTI.

The TMC leader, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year, was earlier asked to vacate the house by January 7 after her allotment was cancelled.

On January 8, the DoE had issued a notice seeking her reply within three days as to why she had not vacated her government accommodation. Another notice was also issued to her on January 12.

On January 4, the Delhi High Court asked the TMC leader to approach the DoE with a request to allow her to continue to occupy the government accommodation allotted to her.

Justice Subramoniun Prasad, while dealing with Moitra's challenge to an official intimation asking her to vacate the government bungalow by January 7, noted that the rules permitted the authorities to allow a resident to overstay for up to six months on payment of certain charges in exceptional circumstances.

The court allowed Moitra to withdraw her petition and noted it has not made any observations on the merits of the matter. It said the DoE shall decide her case after applying its own mind.

It added that the law mandates issuing notice to a resident before eviction and the government has to take steps to evict the petitioner in accordance with law.

Moitra was held guilty of "unethical conduct" and expelled from Lok Sabha on December 8 last year for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the Parliament website with him.

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