PWD notice to AAP over office bungalow

NEW DELHI: Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) has issued a show cause notice to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party asking why their office located at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg (earlier Rouse Avenue) in central Delhi should not be vacated for alleged illegal occupation, a senior PWD official said on Thursday.

The AAP, however, said they have not received the notice so far. “In pursuance with the high court order the show cause notice was issued by the L-G through PWD office on September 26,” a senior PWD official told Hindustan Times.

The latest development is expected to further escalate tension between AAP chief and L-G. They had earlier locked horns over a range of issues, including Mohalla Clinics.

In April, L-G Baijal had cancelled the allotment of the bungalow to AAP on recommendations of the Shunglu Committee which, it said, had been “illegally” allotted to the party.

In June, PWD sent a notice to the AAP asking to it pay a fine of ₹27 lakh for “illegally” occupying the party office, while on August 23, the Delhi High Court quashed L-G order cancelling the allotment of the bungalow.

“The high court had only set aside the L-G’S order regarding cancellation of the allotment of the bungalow 206 Rouse Avenue as office to the AAP. But it has also asked the L-G to pass a speaking order on the issue,” the official added.

He further said that to pass a speaking order on the issue, the L-G has issued a show cause notice to the party on Tuesday asking “why their office should not be vacated for illegally occupying it.”

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj denied the development.

“We have not yet received any notice or communication in this connection,” Bharadwaj told the Hindustan Times.