In a twist to the ongoing row over Delhi chief minister’s official residence at 6, Flag Staff Road at Civil Lines, the Public Works Department (PWD) has withdrawn its offer to allot the bungalow to Chief Minister Atishi, as she did not take “physical possession” of the house despite multiple requests from the department and issuance of “authority slip” last October. Countering her claim that she was evicted from her official residence for the second time in three months, PWD’s sources have said that the question of eviction doesn’t arise because she never took possession of the bungalow. The PWD has now offered two choices of accommodation to Atishi - Bungalow 2 at 8 Raj Niwas and Bungalow 115 at Ansari Road Daryaganj - and asked her to submit her choice within eight days.
“A night before the announcement of the election date, the BJP-led government at the Centre has thrown me out of the chief minister’s residence for the second time in two months. I was sent a letter stating that the allotment had been cancelled. The residence has been snatched from the elected chief minister of an elected government. They did the same thing three months ago, when I became chief minister. My belongings and those of my family were thrown out of the house and on the road,” the chief minister said in Hindi.
In a letter dated January 6, the PWD letter indicates that Atishi has not been evicted, as she never took possession of the bungalow that was allocated to her. Secondly, her official residence at 17 AB Mathura Road remains allocated to her, and she has been offered two other bungalows to choose from. The letter from the PWD also clarified that the withdrawal of the offer for the Flag Staff Road bungalow occurred for two main reasons: Atishi failed to take possession of the property within the required one-week period, despite it being offered three months earlier.
Secondly, the ‘Sheesh Mahal’, where the bungalow is located, is currently under investigation by the CBI, ED, and CAG, due to concerns over potential corruption related to its construction. “Besides, she was supposed to take possession of the house within 1 week and she did not do so in 3 months. The rules clearly stipulate that,” said officials adding an official residence 17 AB Mathura Road is already allotted to her and she has again been given an offer of three other lavish bungalows including bungalow number 2 at 8 Raj Niwas Road and bungalow number 115 at Ansari Road, Daryan Ganj.
In a notice dated January 6, 2025, Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD) said the bungalow at 6, Flag Staff Road is also not a designated house for Delhi CM as it belongs to “General Pool” as per official records. The CM has been offered allotment of Bungalow No 2 at 8 Raj Niwas Lane, Civil Lines and Bungalow No 115 Ansari Road Daryaganj from “General Pool”.
After former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal vacated the Civil Lines bungalow on October 4, 2024, Atishi had shifted to the house on October 6. However, she was asked to vacate the premises on October 9 by the officials of PWD, a department she heads. She vacated the bungalow the same day. Maintaining that an official “handover” of the property from Kejriwal to the department is yet to take place, PWD officials had then said the house has been sealed.
The officials had also said that inventory of the bungalow was not complete and while Atishi was in possession of the keys for the bungalow, she did not have the official allotment letter. The PWD officially allotted the house to Atishi on October 11. She accepted the offer on October 14. The ‘authority slip’ was issued by the PWD on October 16 with validity up to October 23, 2024 - during this period, Atishi had to shift to the bungalow.
The Chief Minister never took physical possession of the property despite multiple communications, the PWD said in letter while mentioning also reasons behind cancellation of allotment. “The department’s decision to withdraw the offer was influenced by several factors: the ongoing investigations requiring periodic access to the property, the fact that the bungalow is not a designated Chief Minister’s residence but belongs to the General Pool category, and the provision that allotment is automatically cancelled if physical occupation isn’t taken within five working days of the Habitability Certificate’s issuance,” the PWD.
“However, the Chief Minister, Delhi, did not take physical possession of the bungalow, but only took technical possession on October 23, through her representative Aswathi Muralidharan PS (personal secretary)… On the same day, an email was issued to the CM, with the request to arrange to conduct a joint visit with PWD engineers to the bungalow, as has been the normal practice for taking possession of allotted houses. On October 26, a reminder email was issued… no response had been received,” PWD said in the letter. It added that on December 18, the department received a communication from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) that they want to inspect the bungalow and suggest renovation/repairs required, if any.
As per the letter, a joint inspection was carried out on December 24 and the bungalow was found in a “very good and habitable condition”. “…though the representative of CM orally suggested some minor repair works, no formal communication was made from the CMO…,” said the letter, adding that all the 14 suggestions given orally the CM’s representative were “attended” to.
The CM, however, is yet to move into the house, it further said. “…As per provisions… if the allottee failed to take physical occupation of the house within five working days from the date of issue of ‘Habitability Certificate’, the allotment shall be cancelled automatically,” the letter added.
Addressing media, Atishi said that she will write a letter to the prime minister asking him to leave the ‘Rajmahal’ and come and live at 131, North Avenue (AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh’s residence). Will the prime minister come and live in this residence? “The BJP threw me out of the chief minister’s residence three months ago. But I kept working for the people of Delhi without stopping,” Atishi said.
Hitting back, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said there are “no takers for her lies”. “The allotment of ‘Sheesh Mahal’ has been withdrawn, as we learn, for two key reasons: first her failure to take possession and second CBI/ED investigation,” he said in a post on X. In another post on X, the BJP leader also posted a purported letter of withdrawal issued by the Public Works Department (PWD) Secretariat on Monday and said, “Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena is lying. She was allotted Sheesh Mahal on October 11, 2024.” “She hasn’t still occupied it because she doesn’t want to offend Arvind Kejriwal,” he added.
Reacting to the issue, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said in a post on X, “Within three months, BJP again expelled Chief Minister Atishi from the CM’s residence. These people are showing their frustration by abusing Atishi and throwing her out of the house.”
