A mansion for the CM

Madhya Pradesh government’s allotment of houses to ex CMs violates SC judgment

Kamal Nath, soon after assuming the office of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, has reportedly allotted a government bungalow to Digvijay Singh and to his immediate predecessor, Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The allotment, as reported, is in flagrant violation and flies in the face of the Supreme Court judgment in the Lok Prahari case, delivered on May 7, 2018, whereby Section 4(3) of the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1981, entitling former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh to government accommodation, was struck down as violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has in unequivocal terms held that once such persons demit the office earlier held by them, there is nothing to distinguish them from the common man. It has further held that public office held by them becomes a matter of history and cannot form the basis of a reasonable classification so as to entitle them to the benefit of special privileges.

A similar legislation, rather more benevolent than the aforesaid UP Act, was passed by the Madhya Pradesh legislature by amending Section 5 of the Madhya Pradesh (Mantri vetan tatha bhatta) Adhiniyam, 1972, which provided that an ex-chief minister shall be entitled throughout his life without payment of rent to the use of furnished residence equivalent to that of a minister.

Taking recourse to the said amended provision of Section 5, the then chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, allotted government accommodation to former chief ministers Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, Kailash Joshi and Digvijay Singh. This provision, too, was challenged.