AAP MP RAGHAV CHADHA TO LOSE GOVERNMENT BUNGALOW?

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INTRODUCTION

In a dispute between AAP MP Raghav Chadha and the Rajya Sabha Secretariat over the allotment of a government bungalow to AAP MP Raghav Chadha, a Delhi court said the MP cannot claim that he has an absolute right to continue occupying the accommodation during his tenure.

Who is Raghav Chadha?

Raghav Chadha is a National Executive member and spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

Born on November 11, 1988, and raised in New Delhi, Chadha received his school education from the city’s Modern School and graduated from Delhi University (DU). He is also a practicing chartered accountant.

Raghav Chadha has been associated with the AAP since its formation in 2012. He has been quoted as saying in media reports that he met AAP founder and convenor Arvind Kejriwal during the last leg of the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare in 2011 and was urged to participate in the drafting of the Delhi Lokpal Bill. Since then, he has been an integral part of the party — from being a member of various committees to defending it in debates on news channels. As litigation in-charge of the AAP, he is tasked with overseeing crucial legal matters of the party and party leaders.

Chadha was among the nine advisors appointed by the AAP government in Delhi to various departments. After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led Union government canceled the nine appointments, Chadha famously returned the Rs 2.50 he had apparently received from the government as compensation for his services.

Chadha contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an AAP candidate for the South Delhi seat and lost to the BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri.

In the 2020 Delhi Assembly election, the AAP fielded him from the Rajinder Nagar constituency, from where he emerged victorious.

Raghav Chadha Age and Family

Raghav was born in Delhi on 11 November 1988. his parents are Alka Chadha and Sunil Chadha. Not much is known about his family in the public eye. Bollywood Actress Parineeti Chopra and Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha tied the knot in an intimate wedding ceremony in Udaipur earlier in September.

Delhi Court says, Raghav Chadha, to lose the government bungalow

A Delhi court on Friday said AAP MP Raghav Chadha cannot claim that he has an absolute right to continue to occupy a government accommodation during his tenure even after the allotment was canceled. The court was hearing a case between the MP and the Rajya Sabha Secretariat over his allotment of a Type-VII bungalow.

The MP’s allotment to a Type-VII bungalow in Delhi’s Pandara Road was canceled by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat in March. He was told that the allotment had been canceled as Type-VII was higher than his entitlement as a first-time MP and he was allotted another flat.

Raghav Chadha said- Exercise to target and Victimise me

Raghav Chadha alleged that the cancellation of the “duly allotted official accommodation was arbitrary” and was done without giving him any notice.

“It is unprecedented in more than 70 years of the history of Rajya Sabha that a sitting member is sought to be removed from his duly allotted accommodation where he has been residing for a while and more than four years of his tenure as Rajya Sabha member are still remaining,” said the AAP MP.

He blamed the BJP for the cancellation of his accommodation and said, “The manner of the entire exercise leaves me with no option but to believe that these have been carried out at the dictates of BJP to further their political motives and vested interest in order to scuttle and stifle the political criticism raised by the vocal parliamentarians like me.”

He alleged that the loss of his government accommodation coupled with his suspension as a Rajya Sabha MP “leaves no doubt that the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to target vocal Members of Parliament”.

He said the government bungalow was allotted to him by the Rajya Sabha Chairman after taking into consideration all the factors that are peculiar to him. “However, canceling of the accommodation subsequently without any cause or reason signals that the entire suo moto exercise was undertaken to wrongfully target and victimize me,” said the AAP MP.

Raghav Chadha also named other parliamentarians who previously occupied the same bungalow that was allotted to him and were first-time MPs like him. The MPs on his list included BJP MPs Sudhanshu Trivedi, Rakesh Sinha, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali, and former BJP MP Rupa Ganguly.

Chadha was suspended from the Rajya Sabha in August till the Privilege Committee submitted its findings on the allegations against him for forging the signatures of five MPs in a motion related to the Delhi Services Bill in the House

Raghav Chadha moves HC against the trial court’s decision to vacate the interim order

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha moved the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court’s order which stopped Chadha from dispossessing him from the government bungalow allotted to him.

The case was mentioned for urgent hearing today and is likely to be heard on Wednesday.

Chadha’s counsel submitted that the Member of Parliament has been served with a notice and eviction proceedings are going on. She said earlier there was a stay from the trial court but now it has been removed.

On October 5, the trial court, in an order, said Chadha could not claim that he had an absolute right to continue to occupy the government bungalow during his entire tenure as a Rajya Sabha MP even after the cancellation of the allotment.

The trial court had made the observation while vacating an interim order passed on April 18 that had directed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat not to dispossess Chadha from the government bungalow.

It noted that the interim relief was granted to Chadha that he would not be dispossessed from the accommodation without due process of law.