Bihar govt wins Lutyens bungalow tussle with Jharkhand

Officials familiar with the development said the settlement on the Lutyens bungalows was brokered by the Union Home Secretary with the chief secretaries of the two states. (Image for representational purposes.)

After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s return to the NDA, the Centre has intervened to resolve a 17-year-old dispute between Bihar and Jharkhand that started soon after the state bifurcation in 2000. The Union Home and Urban Development ministries have convinced the Jharkhand government to settle its claim on Bihar Niwas and Bihar Bhavan in Lutyens Delhi and accept a compensation of nearly Rs 41 crore, signalling a victory for the Bihar Chief Minister.

Officials familiar with the development said the settlement on the Lutyens bungalows was brokered by the Union Home Secretary with the chief secretaries of the two states. The urban development ministry has pegged the value of the two properties at approximately Rs 350 crore, according to the home ministry. “According to population ratio of the two states, Jharkhand had right to one-third of these bungalows and an equivalent compensation will be paid by Bihar after considering the depreciation,” said a senior government official.

Earlier, Jharkhand was demanding one-third of the 32-room Bihar Niwas and 64-room Bihar Bhavan. The claim was contested by the Bihar government which said Jharkhand already has two addresses in Delhi — Jharkhand Bhavan in Vasant Kunj and a vacant plot near Connaught Place. Therefore, Jharkhand should forego its claim on the Bihar properties in the capital, said officials from the state.

The Jharkhand government, however, claimed the property allocated to them in Delhi lacked adequate space and pleaded that the state be allowed to retain a portion of Bihar Niwas, following which the UPA government directed Bihar to give away Bihar Niwas to Jharkhand.
The Bihar government moved the Supreme Court in 2004 and after multiple hearings, the court recently asked the two states’ chief secretaries to resolve the issue by consulting the Union home and urban development ministries.

“We held several rounds of consultations before both sides agreed to a solution. It will now be conveyed to the Supreme Court,” a senior home ministry official added.