J&K High Court seeks policy behind Azad, Raina retaining official homes

The J&K High Court asked the administration to explain official housing rules for political leaders. The scrutiny could determine whether a designated committee has uniform authority over such allotments.Stock photo used for illustrationJammu,Oct 14, 2026 16:10 ISTThe High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has sought clarity on the policy governing government accommodation for political leaders after being told that former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior BJP leader Ravinder Raina could retain their official residences until March 2027.A designated committee had recommended continuing the allotments, following which the competent authority allowed the two leaders to retain the residences until March 2027 or the next review, whichever is earlier, the Union Territory administration told the court.A division bench of Chief Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rajesh Sekhri raised the issue while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Professor S K Bhalla on October 12.Senior additional advocate general Monika Kohli, appearing for the administration, said the committee had considered the cases of Azad and Raina, a former president of the Jammu and Kashmir BJP, at a meeting on August 14. She said its recommendations were subsequently placed before the competent authority, which approved the continued allotments. The bench asked the administration to explain the rules under which the committee could permit political leaders to retain government accommodation. It said: "This court, on such submissions, has posed a question to learned senior AAG, as to what is the policy in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, which governs the retention of government accommodation And from where the designated committee derives its power to consider whether such government accommodation has to be retained by the political persons."Kohli sought time to file an affidavit and assist the court on the question of a uniform policy for political leaders retaining government accommodation. The court accepted the request and listed the matter for November 12. The hearing was held virtually as the bench is based in Srinagar. The petitioner's counsel argued that unauthorised occupation of government accommodation could not be justified on security grounds. Senior advocates S S Ahmad and Supriya Chauhan referred to a December 26, 2022, order in which a division bench had declined to protect certain people from eviction from government properties on security grounds. They also cited judgments of the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court.Bhalla filed the PIL in 2020. It had earlier led to the eviction of more than 180 politicians from government accommodation following the dissolution of the Assembly in 2018 and the subsequent intervention of the High Court. The court will now consider the administration's explanation of the policy and the committee's authority when the case is heard on November 12.- Ends