After SC verdict, will ex-CMs vacate government bungalows in Bihar?

With the Supreme Court judgment stating that former chief ministers are not entitled for lifetime taxpayer-sponsored accommodation, several former Bihar chief ministers including Lalu Prasad, will have to vacate their bungalows. M I Khan/Rediff.com reports from Patna.

The Supreme Court on Monday held that former chief ministers are not entitled to government accommodation for lifetime.

A bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave, which pronounced its verdict on a 2004 plea, said that any such government accommodation should be vacated within two to three months. “They don’t have the right to occupy government accommodation for a lifetime,” the bench said.

This puts nearly half a dozen former chief ministers in the state of Bihar in a hotspot.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, both former chief ministers, are currently residing in the sprawling 10 Circular Road.

Lalu was chief minister from 1990 to 1997 and Rabri Devi was chief minister from 1997 to 2005.

The couple has shifted to this bunglow from 1 Anne Marg, the official residence of the state chief minister, after the RJD was ousted from the power in November 2005 when the Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance led by Nitish Kumar defeated them.

The couple's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, currently Bihar’s health minister, and younger son Tejaswi Yadav, the state's deputy chief minister, also reside in the same bunglow.

According to officials of the building department in Patna, the bungalow is spread across acres of land.

Similarly, Jagannath Mishra, who had served as chief minister in 1980s, has been staying in a government-owned bungalow for decades.

Satish Kumar, who had served as chief minister for only three days in 1968, has also been staying in a government bungalow for years.

Jitan Ram Manjhi, who was chief minister from May 2014 to March 2016, is staying in considerably large bungalow.

Even incumbent Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been occupying a sprawling bungalow at 7 Circular Road in his capacity as a former CM.