The Delhi High Court has overturned a ruling by the Patiala House court that had previously allowed the Rajya Sabha secretariat to remove Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha from his official residence in Delhi.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has overturned a ruling by the Patiala House court that had previously allowed the Rajya Sabha secretariat to remove Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha from his official residence in the national capital, Delhi.
The AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP had filed a petition with the Delhi High Court in response to the recent Patiala House Court order, which granted the Rajya Sabha Secretariat the authority to evict Raghav Chadha from his current residence.
The High Court has reinstated its October 18 order, which had granted the MP interim protection against eviction until the city court made a decision on his application seeking an injunction to prevent eviction.
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Earlier, a trial court had issued an order to vacate and recall the stay order that had provided interim relief to Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, assuring that he would not be removed from his current residence without due process of law.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani affirmed the trial court’s April 18 order, directing the Rajya Sabha Secretariat not to evict Chadha.
Chadha had challenged the trial court’s October 5 order, which revoked the April order. The court, in its recent ruling, stated that Chadha cannot assert an absolute right to occupy the government bungalow for the entirety of his tenure as a Rajya Sabha MP, even after the cancellation of the allotment.
Chadha’s legal counsel argued before the high court that the MP had received an eviction notice, and eviction proceedings were underway. The Rajya Sabha secretariat opposed his petition against the trial court’s decision.
The trial court’s Additional District Judge Sudhanshu Kaushik, in an order issued on October 5, explained that the interim relief granted on April 14 was in error, as it had allowed Raghav Chadha not to be dispossessed from his accommodation without due process of law. The court has now corrected this error, recalling the order from April 18 and vacating the interim order.
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In the initial April 18 order, the court had directed that Raghav Chadha, who resides with his parents, should not be removed from the bungalow without following due process of law. The court found that the balance of convenience favoured the plaintiff, and dispossessing him without due process of law would cause irreparable harm.