Disclose details of Babu Jagjivan Ram’s bungalow, orders CIC  

May 8, 2012

Central Information Commission, acting on a RTI appeal filed by Delhi-based activist Subhash Agrawal, ordered that for the sake of transparency, “all the information relating to the allotment, occupation and use of the bungalow at 6, Krishna Menon Marg, should be brought out in the public domain”

Moneylife Digital Team

The Central Information Commission (CIC), today directed the urban development ministry to disclose information related to allotment, occupation and use of a government bungalow by family members of late Indrani Devi, including her daughter and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, in public domain. Earlier, the government has waived around Rs1.98 crore of pending rent owed by Ms Kumar for using palatial bungalow at 6 Krishna Menon Marg, revealed an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The direction came while hearing the RTI appeal filed by Delhi-based activist Subhash Agrawal who sought information on the occupation, allocation and use of the said bungalow.

Central Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra observed that, “As submitted by the Appellant during the hearing, he had been receiving often contradictory response/information from various authorities concerned regarding   this bungalow and its use. He showed us several replies received from the Directorate of the Estates, CPWD and others which, instead of throwing clear light on the issues, confused the entire matter.”

It ordered that, “For the sake of transparency, it is extremely important that all the   information relating to the allotment, occupation and use of this bungalow should be brought out in the public domain.”

The CIC has directed the ministry to furnish the information along with all relevant files and correspondence within 20 working days. It has also directed to put all information related to the bungalow 6, Krishna Menon Marg, on its website, possibly within two months. This will enable citizens to access the relevant information freely.

In November 2011, the RTI query filed by Mr Agrawal had revealed that the Speaker has been served a Rs2 crore bill for illegally occupied bungalow. (Lok Sabha Speaker owes govt Rs2 crore as unpaid rent)

In 2004, Ms Kumar was allotted the bungalow number 6 at Krishna Menon Marg after she became the Union minister of social justice & employment. The same residence was the house of her father and senior Congress leader Babu Jagjivan Ram till his death in 1986. Ms Kumar was allotted another bungalow, number 20 on Akbar Road when she became the Speaker in 2009 and where she currently lives.

However, according to the news reports, Ms Meira continued to hold both these bungalows. A statement from the Speaker’s office had said that the family members of late Indrani Devi had vacated the Krishna Menon Marg bungalow by November 30 2002, and this was intimated to the CPWD (Central Public Works Department), NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council), director of estates and other authorities. It is also reported that the bungalow has been turned into a memorial for Babu Jagjivan Ram.

Further, in reply to another RTI application filed by Mr Agrawal, the DoE said that, “…a bill of Rs1.98 crore was issued in the name of family of Late Smt Indira Devi in respect of 6 Krishna Menon Marg. However, subsequently on receiving a clarification from Smt Meira Kumar, Hon’ble Speaker, stating that she has vacated 6 Krishna Menon Marg on 28-11-2002, a decision has been taken by the ministry to treat this as the date of vacation and as per orders the recovery notice was withdrawn.”