DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday issued show-cause notices to three former chief ministers and the state chief secretary while hearing a contempt petition over non-compliance of an order on dues for facilities used by the ex-CMs for years.
The ex-CMs include Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and current Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Kartikey Hari Gupta, counsel for the petitioner, said: “The court has already stated earlier that this is public money and should be returned”.
The next hearing is scheduled after four weeks.The petition was filed by a Dehradun-based NGO, the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra.
In June, the High Court had declared provisions of the Uttarakahnd Former Chief Ministers Facility Act 2019 as ultra vires or ‘beyond legal authority of the state’.
After the order, all ex-CMs are now liable to pay the market rent and other expenses amounting to Rs 20 crore.
The highest pending rent is due from late ND Tiwari (Rs 1.12 crore) followed by BS Koshayri (Rs 47.57 lakh), BC Khanduri (Rs 46.59 lakh), Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (Rs 40.95 lakh) and Vijay Bahuguna (Rs 37.5 lakh).