Govt justifies allotment of house to Priyanka

Govt justifies allotment of house to Priyanka
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JULY 21: The Centre in its submission before the Delhi High Court has justified allotment of a Government house to Priyanka Gandhi after her marriage, saying she was entitled for it as she has been provided Special Protection Group (SPG) security cover.

While placing before the court the newly-approved guidelines on allotment of accommodations to VIPs, political parties and others, the Government, in a recent submission, told a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice D K Jain that Gandhi was entitled to a Government house as she had been provided `Z' plus category security cover.

The Government affidavit said the Union Home Ministry had made it clear that it would not recommend any new case for allotment of accommodation on security grounds.

The affidavit was filed in a case in which the court had taken suo motu initiative to scrutinise allotments to various categories of people following the reports of large scale unauthorised occupation of its houses.

Allotment of an official house to Gandhi was challenged in the court by an NGO through a public interest writ.

The court asked the Government to furnish details by August 10 about the number of properties in unauthorised occupation and steps initiated for their eviction.

As per the new guidelines, approved by the Cabinet in February, entitlement for Government accommodation had been divided into seven categories which included former vice-presidents, former prime ministers and their spouses, `Z' plus security protectees, artists, accredited journalists, freedom fighters and political parties.