The Delhi High Court has provided relief to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) parliamentarian Raghav Chadha by overturning a city court's earlier decision that permitted the Rajya Sabha secretariat to evict him from his official residence. The high court has ruled that the city court's order from April 18, which prevented the secretariat from evicting the AAP leader, remains in effect until the trial court makes a final decision on his interim application, seeking a stay against the secretariat's cancellation of his allotment and eviction notice issued on March 3.
Following the high court's decision, Raghav Chadha expressed his gratitude, stating, "I thank the Hon’ble Delhi High Court for setting aside the order of the trial court, which was against me… Glad that in the end, truth and justice have prevailed."
Chadha was allotted a Type VII bungalow at Pandara Road on September 8, 2022, from the Rajya Sabha pool and took possession in November 2022. However, on March 3, his allotment was revoked on the grounds that, as a first-time MP, he was entitled to only a Type VI bungalow.
In response, Chadha approached a Delhi trial court, which, in an interim order dated April 18, prohibited the secretariat from evicting him from the bungalow until his suit for a permanent injunction was resolved. The Rajya Sabha secretariat sought a review of this interim order in the trial court, which was vacated on October 5, with the judge emphasizing that no one had a vested right to retain a government-allotted house after the privilege was withdrawn.
On Tuesday, a single-judge bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani restored Chadha’s suit for a permanent injunction against eviction and directed the MP to submit his application for interim relief to the city court within three days, with instructions for the trial court to prioritize its resolution by the law.
