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Gujarat High Court says ex-IPS officer must pay rent for ‘unauthorised stay’ in government apartment
['Aditi Raja', 'Aditi Raja Is An Assistant Editor With The Indian Express', 'Stationed In Vadodara', 'Gujarat', 'With Over Years In The Field. She Has Been Reporting The Region Of Central Gujarat', 'Narmada District For This Newspaper Since', 'Which Establishes Her As A Highly Authoritative', 'Trustworthy Source On Regional Politics', 'Administration', 'Critical Socio-Economic']
The Indian Express
The Gujarat High Court also made it clear that technical objections could not be invoked to defeat recovery of legitimate government dues.
(Express file photo)The Gujarat High Court on Thursday dismissed two petitions filed by former IPS officer Satish Chandra Verma in his long running dispute over a government apartment in Ahmedabad, holding that he continued to occupy the accommodation after he was no longer entitled to retain it and he cannot avoid paying market rate rent for the period of unauthorised occupation.
Justice Nirzar Desai rejected Verma’s challenge to the State’s demand for market rent, observing that the government accommodation had been allotted to him solely because of his position as an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
Once his entitlement to retain the premises came to an end, he cannot insist on a separate notice before the authorities levied market rate rent applicable to unauthorised occupation, the court said.