Action to evict Payal Abdullah, estranged wife of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, from the Jammu and Kashmir government bungalow in New Delhi was initiated on Monday evening by the state authorities.
A squad from the Jammu and Kashmir Resident Commissioner's office broke the outer gate of the bungalow and were taking out her belongings.
The action followed a Delhi High Court order on August 19.
After asking her orally to "gracefully" vacate the official bungalow, the court had said Payal and the estranged couple's two sons staying with her are "liable to be evicted forthwith", terming their entitlement to retain it as "wholly illegal".
Payal, who has been residing at the bungalow since 1999, had approached the High Court after the trial court on August 16 had asked her to move out of the house in Lutyen's zone in the national capital.
The high court was hearing Payal's plea seeking that she and her children be not evicted from 7, Akbar Road (type VIII) bungalow or an alternative accommodation be provided in view of their security status and threat to their lives.
The Jammu and Kashmir government opposed Payal's stay in the bungalow, saying it was faced with an extremely piquant situation as it does not have an appropriate accommodation to house the chief minister in Delhi befitting her position and security imperatives.
The Centre, through its counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, appearing for Ministry of Home Affairs, submitted that there is no substantial reduction in the security given to Payal since she started living in the present bungalow.
"Delhi Police will take care of the security personnel who will be deployed at the residence where she will move," the MHA counsel said.
The Centre told the court that government accommodation, on security grounds, is given only to SPG protectees. It said that a "general threat to them is perceived from Kashmiri militants for being the family member of Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah, and in Delhi their threat quotient is assessed to be not as high as in Kashmir".
The Centre also said there is "no input with it indicating any specific or imminent threat to Payal Abdullah".
Photograph: ANI Photo
