The Supreme Court (SC,) on the 8th of February, dismissed the petition of Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD,) against the verdict of the Patna High Court (HC.)
The SC ordered Tejashwi to vacate the bungalow which belongs to the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and also imposed a Rs. 50,000 fine for wasting ‘judicial time.’
The verdict was given by a bench of judges, comprising of Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice of India (CJI,) Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
The case went to the SC after Tejashwi Yadav filed a petition against the verdict of the Patna HC. The HC ordered Tejashwi Yadav to vacate his bungalow for Sushil Kumar Modi, the new Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.
The High Court said, “We find that this squabble over the allotment of a bungalow should not have been made a cause of dispute, as if it was a division of some private property. The rights which are being agitated upon are not such rights so as to place them on the pedestal of legally enforceable, indefeasible rights.”
In 2015, Tejashwi Yadav, the then Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, was allotted a bungalow, however, the RJD lost power in the State. Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister (CM) of Bihar, asked Mr. Yadav to vacate the bungalow for Sushil Kumar Modi, the new Deputy CM.
Mr. Yadav filed a case to retain the house, following which, a single judge bench of the Patna HC rejected the appeal. The bench said, “The petitioner has been allotted a bungalow, matching his status as a minister in the Government, at 1, Polo Road, Patna. He cannot raise complaint on the decision so taken, simply because the present bungalow is more suited to him.”
Later, Mr. Yadav challenged the decision given by the single judge bench of the Patna HC. This appeal by Yadav was rejected by another bench of the HC. Disappointed with the judgement of the Patna HC, Yadav moved the Supreme Court.
Stay tuned for further updates.
