Vacate bungalow, Mehbooba Mufti told
Srinagar, October 21
The Jamp;K administration has asked former CM Mehbooba Mufti to vacate her official bungalow in the high-security Gupkar area in Srinagar.
The Estates Department has served an eviction notice on Mehbooba to vacate the Fairview residence where she has been living since 2005 when her father, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, was the Jamp;K CM. “The eviction notice has come on expected lines,” Mehbooba said.
Will consult legal team
Mehbooba says she will consult her legal team as she does not own a place where she can stay.
On October 15, Mehbooba and many other former legislators, including Nazir Gurezi, were served notices to vacate their government accommodations.
In 2020, the Centre amended a state law which denies entitlement of government accommodation to former CMs and legislators. Mehbooba said although the notice mentioned that the bungalow was meant for the CM of Jammu and Kashmir, that was not the case.
“This place was allotted to my father (Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) in December 2005, after he relinquished the CM’s office. So the grounds mentioned by the administration are not correct,” Mehbooba said.
Mehbooba said she would consult her legal team as she did not own a place where she could stay.
The Fairview residence was formerly an infamous torture centre, known as PAPA-2.
Until 1989, it served as an official guest house, but a year later, it was occupied by the BSF, which named it PAPA-2. In 2003, it was renovated and served as the residence of the then Finance Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Baig.
