Nineteen Government officials including six IAS officers transferred from Dehradun have not yet vacated the official quarters allocated to them in the provisional state capital. Taking a stern stance on this, the High Court has directed the chief secretary to get these government residences vacated in two months and to charge them officials and employees at market rate for the period they occupied the quarters post-transfer. Action should also be taken as per the rules against the official concerned during whose tenure these quarters were allotted.
The officers who did not vacate the government residences alloted to them in Dehradun even after being transferred include the Bagehswar district magistrate Ranjana Rajguru, Tehri DM Sonika, Pithoragarh DM C Ravishankar, Chamoli DM Swati Bhadauriya, additional secretary Vinod Rawat and Haridwar chief development officer Vinit Tomar among other officers and employees of various government departments.
The division bench headed by the acting chief justice Rajiv Sharma directed the chief secretary to take necessary action and also impose fine on these officials and employees.
The matter came to light following a petition filed in the high court in which it was stated that transferred officers and employees not vacating the official quarters in Dehradun was causing inconvenience to other government personnel.