Mahua Moitra vacates bungalow as govt sends team to evict her

Expelled Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra on Friday vacated her government bungalow in New Delhi, a day after the Delhi high court dismissed her plea for a stay on eviction proceedings.

The former Trinamool Congress MP's counsel Shadan Farasat said that house number 9B on Telegraph Lane was vacated by 10 am this (Friday) morning before the authorities arrived.

"No eviction took place," the counsel told reporters.

The Directorate of Estates (DoE), which comes under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, in the morning sent a team to get the bungalow vacated and the area around it was barricaded.

Earlier this week, the DoE issued an eviction notice to Moitra.

"The possession of the bungalow has officially been handed over to the Directorate of Estates. We are assessing if there is any damage to the property," an official said.

On Thursday, Moitra failed to get any relief from the Delhi high court which refused to stay the DoE notice and asked her to vacate the government bungalow.

Justice Girish Kathpalia said no specific rule has been brought before the court which dealt with the eviction of MPs from government accommodation after they cease to be lawmakers.

The TMC leader, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year, was earlier asked to vacate the house by January 7 after her allotment was cancelled.

On January 8, the DoE issued a notice seeking her reply within three days as to why she had not vacated her government accommodation. Another notice was also issued to her on January 12.

On January 4, the Delhi High Court asked the TMC leader to approach the DoE with a request to allow her to continue to occupy the government accommodation allotted to her.

Moitra was held guilty of 'unethical conduct' and expelled from Lok Sabha on December 8 last year for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the Parliament website with him.