Fears his comeback; Tilak lane flat not vacated
The Public Works Department (PWD) of Delhi Government has not issued any notice to the former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to vacate his official flat at CII/23 at Tilak lane despite the completion of the 15-day grace period. Kejriwal, who batted for honesty and integrity in public life, has not applied for extension of his stay in Tilak lane flat. According to sources, PWD is yet to send a notice to Kejriwal for vacating the official house allotted to him, fearing that if the same Government comes to power, it may create trouble for the concerned officials.
Even, from Kejriwal’s side, there has been no communication in this regard. Kejriwal, who resigned from the Chief Minister’s post on February 14, ideally should have vacated the house on March 1. As per rules, former Ministers can stay in official residences free of cost for 15 days after demitting office. Afterwards, if they choose to stay there (maximum of six months), they are required to pay rent much higher than market rates. In case Kejriwal wished to extend his stay at the present location, he has to officially intimate the PWD in this regard and use the premises for six more months by paying 65 times more the licencee, which amounts to `2.58 lakh per month.
The PWD had asked former Congress Ministers Kiran Walia, Arvinder Singh lovely and Haroon Yusuf to pay `5.8 lakh, `6.5 lakh and `2.9 lakh respectively as rent decided on the basis of market rates.