Nursery merged into judge’s ‘safe house’

While its drive to demolish unauthorized constructions is on hold, the Delhi High Court has caused the demolition of an authorized compound wall in the vicinity of India Gate to enlarge by almost 50% a bungalow allotted to one of its judges.

On a ‘‘request’’ made by the HC’s registry in December on ‘‘security considerations’’, the urban development ministry merged a 700 sq m plot with the adjoining No 1, Zakir Hussain Marg, a 1,300 sq m bungalow allotted to Justice Hima Kohli.

The compound wall between the bungalow and the corner plot has been demolished in the course of renovation work going on in the now 2,000 sq m-premises, being readied for Justice Kohli’s residence.

CPWD has vacated the plot — classified as an ‘‘urban crevice’’ — which was used by it for several years as a nursery for the horticulture needs of that neighbourhood.

The High Court’s justification for seeking to add the plot to its existing pool of bungalows is that Justice Kohli has no male family member living with her. Therefore, she felt insecure about the proximity with the nursery where gardeners would work through the day.

Registrar general cites security

The Delhi HC has caused the demolition of an authorized compound wall in the vicinity of India Gate to enlarge by 50% a bungalow allotted to one of its judge.

This was confirmed to The Times of India by HC’s registrar general, Ajit Bharihoke, who said that HC had taken up the matter with the government in deference to Justice Kohli’s peculiar situation. ‘‘Her family consists of three female members. We requested the government to vacate the nursery and merge the plot with the bungalow purely on security considerations.’’

This despite the fact that like any other HC judge’s residence on that road and elsewhere, Justice Kohli’s house too would have the regular complement of security men posted round the clock. Did the previous occupants of that bungalow have any issue with the gardeners working in the nearby nursery? ‘‘No, we used that bungalow earlier as a guest house. The need to turn it into a judge’s house has arisen because of shortage of accommodation,’’ Bharihoke said. Justice Kohli, when contacted, declined to comment on the issue.

The government on its part is cagey on why it acceeded to the HC’s unusual request on that centrally located plot. None of the officers concerned is willing to speak on record on the high court’s role in the matter.

Chief engineer of CPWD, S M Amrith, limited himself to saying that his department moved the nursery out of the plot because of orders from the land and development officer R K Sinha. But, passing the buck to CPWD, Sinha said his office merged the plot with the bungalow because the nursery had been vacated.

The circumstances in which one of the 10 identical bungalows on Zakir Hussain Marg has become bigger has raised eyebrows. Lawyers feel if the same thing had been done for the benefit of any executive or legislative authority, the courts might have called it a misuse of power.

The Times of India 23 April 2008 P.1 New Delhi
With thanks from The Time of India
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