IN RE LIFE TIME ALLOTMENT OF BUNGALOWS TO FORMER CHIEF MINISTERS OF STATE OF BIHAR Vs. CHIEF SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Preamble to the Constitution is a declaration by the people of India that they have resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic. The equality of status and opportunities is guaranteed and laws inconsistent with and in derogation of the fundamental rights shall be to that extent void. As to what form of Republic as envisaged in our Constitution has been explained by a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Janardan Singh Vs. State of Bihar, 2011 2 PLJR 28, where our Court has recognized the authority of "We the People of India" in the following words in paragraph 13 of the report:-

(2.) It is in this background that the provisions of the Bihar Special Security Group Act, 2000 as amended by Bihar Act No.10 of 2010 relating to a life time allotment of Government premises for residential purposes to Ex-Chief Ministers, who have already demitted office came to the notice of this Court as manifested in the Cabinet Resolution dated 2nd of July, 2014, the Resolution of the Building Construction Department, Government of Bihar, dated 30.12.2014, the Office Memorandum of the Building Construction Department, Government of Bihar dated 22nd March, 2016 followed by the Notification of the same Department dated 25th May, 2018, the Office Memorandum dated 7th Jan., 2019 and 22nd Jan., 2019, that have been brought on record through the affidavit of the respondent-State of Bihar. The allotments have been laid to scrutiny in this Public Interest Litigation as being not in conformity with law and the pronouncement of the Apex Court in the case of Lok Prahari through General Secretary Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others reported in, 2018 6 SCC 1.

(3.) A Division Bench presided over by us while hearing Letters Patent Appeal No.1543 of 2018 (Tejashwi Prasad Yadav Versus The State of Bihar & Ors. reported in, 2019 1 PLJR 622) relating to the claim of retention of an official Bungalow by the leader of the opposition of the Bihar Legislative Assembly noticed the Office Memorandum of the Building Construction Department dated 22nd March, 2016 and called upon the office to register a Public Interest Litigation under the note dated 7th Jan., 2019. Accordingly, this Public Interest Litigation was taken up on 8th Jan., 2019 and a detailed order was passed by us as to why suo motu proceedings deserve to be registered in order to examine the validity of the State action relating to allotment of Government Bungalows/Premises to Ex-Chief Ministers in the State of Bihar at Government expense for their life time and with unlimited finances available for maintaining them. The order passed on 8th Jan., 2019 is extracted hereinunder:-