It was former bureaucrat SN Shukla’s decade-long fight that led to the eviction of former Chief Ministers from Government bungalows in Uttar Pradesh. He is a role model for the multitude who feel subjugated by the political and administrative system
There is an eerie silence at a palatial bungalow in Uttar Pradesh’s Nirala Nagar whose gate had a name plate that read: “SN Shukla, Retired IAS, Advocate”. The silence in that bungalow was baffling as its occupant brought a turmoil in Uttar Pradesh, laced with political cacophony as six former Chief Ministers of the State are set to lose their official bungalows after a recent Supreme Court order.
On May 17, the Estate Department, which comes under the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, issued notice to six former Chief Ministers, asking them to vacate their bungalows within 15 days. The notices were issued a day after former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and suggested some formula to circumvent the court order.
Suave and soft-spoken septuagenarian Shukla, on whose petition the Supreme Court issued the order on May 7, was not amused at the attempts made by different Governments to circumvent the court order. The six former Chief Ministers included Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and BJP leader Kalyan Singh.
“These six former Chief Ministers might ascribe to different political ideologies but their interest remains the same. So, they are bound to stick together as far as the case goes,” said Shukla with a smile, throwing a glance at the voluminous court order lying on the side table in his drawing room.
The petition was filed in 2004, exactly a year after Shukla retired from the Civil Services. During the course of his illustrious career, he had firmly and politely let his political bosses know that he is not pliable.
“In 1982, when I was Secretary, Estate Department and Public Works Department (PWD), the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, ND Tiwari, who had succeeded VP Singh, asked me to allot a Bungalow to former Chief Minister Singh in Mall Avenue which was allotted to him when he was the Chief Minister besides 5 Kalidas Marg, the official residence of Chief Minister. I argued that as per Government rule, you cannot give a big bungalow to Singh. later, a smaller house in Raj Bhawan colony was allotted to Singh,” said Shukla.
He wiped his face with his left hand and said, “I had another polite confrontation with the political leadership sometime in 1984-85 when as Secretary, PWD, I got a call from the Chief Minister’s office that the then Chief Minister Sripati Mishra has asked me to come to his official residence immediately. It was almost 10 pm. I went there. The Chief Minister said that my Minister (PWD Minister) Amaar Rizvi was not happy with me. I told CM sahib that Amaar sahib was more important for him than me and I can be transferred. It never happened and I continued working as Secretary, PWD for the next six months and was later transferred in a routine way during the summer.”
Retirement did not mellow him down. Instead, according to him, the second innings of his life were more pleasant and enjoyable. He is playing it on the front foot as there is no extraneous pressure on him and is free to do what he likes the best — to bring the issues of political corruption on the public fora. “I am enjoying this life more as now, I am not answerable to anyone. Through lok Prahari, we are raising national issues, particularly corruption at the higher level”, he said.
When asked if he wasn’t intimidated or threatened because he has crossed swords with the people who wield immense political clout, with a smile on his face he said, “In 2004, when I filed the petition in the Supreme Court against the allotment of bungalows to former Chief Ministers and Trusts run by political parties after the Allahabad High Court gave reprieve to the Government, the Supreme Court Judges asked me to personally handover notice to the Trusts. When I went to handover the notice in the lohia Trust, I was denied entry and was assaulted. This, I narrated to the court and said that I will not deliver notices personally anymore. This is the only incident which can be called an act of intimidation. The opposition party also knows that lok Prahari is not SN Shukla. It is a group of people having impeccable integrity. So, they never tried to harass us,” he said.
Shukla is now a hero for the multitude who are subjugated by political and administrative system. “People ask me to contest their cases as I have contested this case myself in the Supreme Court. As we cannot afford heavy fees of Supreme Court lawyers, my law degree from Agra university has come handy,” he said. “I have only one suggestion to people: Fight your case yourself. If you are not satisfied with the Government’s decision, move to the court,” he added.
(Writer is Executive Director (News) The Pioneer, lucknow)
