Background
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was send a contempt of court notice by the Uttarakhand High Court for not paying the rent for government bungalow when he was chief minister of Uttarakhand.
A three-judge Bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman, K.M. Joseph and Krishna Murari has stayed the contempt of court notice.
Argument by Mr. Koshyari
- Article 361 provides protection to the President of India and the Governors of states from legal action before courts.
2.Article 361 of the Constitution of India cannot be ignored while issuing notice in a plea seeking contempt action against him.
3.He was never a part of the process to determine market rent of the residential premises allotted to him.
4.The residential premises occupied by him under an order issued by a lawful authority under a rule, which was not in dispute at the time of allotment and had vacated the residence as soon as he was required by law to do so.
- The impugned order of the Uttrakhand High Court had held that after calculation of the market value of residential premises that Koshyari occupied when he was the Chief Minister, he owed Rs 47.5 lakh in dues.
Held
Supreme Court stays contempt of court notice to Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari
