New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha and Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha seeking their response as to how 36 Members of Parliament were occupying houses under the `general pool' above their entitlement.

A Bench, comprising Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice P.P. Naolekar, issued the notice after Additional Solicitor General Amarendra Saran told the court that "sitting MPs, upon ceasing to be Ministers, do not vacate the `general pool' houses allotted to them when they were Ministers. As a MPs they are entitled to accommodation only from the respective `house pools' and not from the general pool."

He said the 36 MPs were in occupation of such houses from the `general pool' above their entitlement. Of them, five had been allotted the same accommodation with the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and one had vacated.

It was in this context the Bench sought details from the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha and Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha.

The Bench also asked the Centre to explain under what circumstances and authority of law it had regularised the accommodation of higher type/category to five MPs; whether under the `discretionary quota,' if so to state whether it was permissible under the Rules.

Mr. Saran said that of the 497 bunglows/houses, which were unauthorisedly occupied, 349 had been vacated. Sixty cases were pending in the Delhi High Court and 16 in the lower court.

The High Court had vacated stay against eviction of 19 journalists, who were included in the list of unauthorised occupants of government accommodation and their eviction was under process. Out of 60 cases, one had vacated and lower courts had disposed of six. At present 50 cases were pending in courts.

Mr. Saran said 25 eminent artistes had exceeded their stay but the Ministry of Culture had stated that it would take up the matter with the CCA for extension of the allotment period. The remaining cases were pending before the Estate Officers at various stages. Recording the submissions, the Bench asked the Centre to explain whether the vacant houses had been re-alloted; if so to whom and were they entitled to such allotment.

The Bench asked the Centre to file an affidavit giving details of the pending cases and also state the defences being taken by the unauthorised occupants in these proceedings. It wanted the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to explain why it recommended to the CCA to allow the 25 artistes to continue with possession of government accommodation despite their allotment period having expired.

The Bench also asked Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh to file a status report in four weeks on unauthorised occupation by VVIPs.

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