Government on Monday introduced the Bill in lok Sabha for smooth eviction of overstaying VIPs from official premises. The bill provides powers to estate officials to start summary eviction of people from the residences, which is given to them on license basis, within three days of their overstay.
Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh introduced the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2017, which provides powers to estate officials to start summary eviction of people from the residences, which is given to them on licence basis, within three days of their overstay. As per the bill the estate officer does not have to follow the elaborate procedures prescribed under the existing law, before passing the eviction order. In order to discourage such occupants to challenge the eviction order before an appellate officer of the HC and get a stay, the legislation says they will have to pay damages for every month they hold the accommodation.
“These amendments would facilitate smooth and speedy eviction of unauthorised occupants from residential accommodations and ensure retrieval of the residential accommodation from the unauthorised occupants without requiring elaborate procedures...,” it says.
Under the existing Act, eviction proceedings take much longer period than the timeline prescribed in the existing Act and, sometimes, it takes years. Currently, it takes around a month to issue the vacation orders after issuing notices and hearing out the occupants. Once the vacation order is issued, another up to 30 days is given to the occupants to leave the premises. In between, the occupants move the courts, especially the lower courts, to get a stay order. In many cases, many VIPs kept the officials bungalows for years by taking the matter to courts.