CEC AK Joti denies taking ‘bungalow favour’ from Gujarat government
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Updated: Oct 23, 2017, 11.10 AM IST
GANDHINAGAR: Responding to reports that he had requested the Gujarat government to let him retain a bungalow in Ahmedabad for over a year after he was appointed to the Election Commission, chief election commissioner AK Joti on Sunday said he had not sought any undue favours from the state government.
"I was allocated a house in Delhi only after one year of being appointed in the EC," Joti told TOI. "I requested the Gujarat government to allow me to keep possession of the house in the Dafnala area of Ahmedabad as I could not have lived with my wife for a year in Delhi's Gujarat Bhavan. I have paid the rent as per Gujarat government norms."
Joti added that after he was given a house by the government of India, he immediately vacated the Ahmedabad bungalow in October 2016. "All these facts are on record. I have not taken any undue favours from any government," he said.
News portal The Wire had cited court documents filed before the Guwahati bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal, alleging that Joti was given a bungalow in Ahmedabad when he was in the Gujarat government. But he had continued to stay in this bungalow even after he was appointed to the Election Commission.
The portal had claimed that the documents which belonged to the case files of 'Satish Verma IPS versus the state of Gujarat' available at the CAT, Guwahati, state that Joti had not vacated the Gujarat government bungalow until late 2016 — for more than a year after he had taken charge of a constitutional post. When asked about the portal's allegation, Joti said if the government had favoured him, he could have got a house in Delhi as soon as he moved to the Capital.
Joti is a 1975-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer who retired as chief secretary in January 31, 2013. He was then appointed vigilance commissioner. He was appointed to the Election Commission in May 2015, and on July 6, 2017, was appointed the chief election commissioner.
"I was allocated a house in Delhi only after one year of being appointed in the EC," Joti told TOI. "I requested the Gujarat government to allow me to keep possession of the house in the Dafnala area of Ahmedabad as I could not have lived with my wife for a year in Delhi's Gujarat Bhavan. I have paid the rent as per Gujarat government norms."
Joti added that after he was given a house by the government of India, he immediately vacated the Ahmedabad bungalow in October 2016. "All these facts are on record. I have not taken any undue favours from any government," he said.
News portal The Wire had cited court documents filed before the Guwahati bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal, alleging that Joti was given a bungalow in Ahmedabad when he was in the Gujarat government. But he had continued to stay in this bungalow even after he was appointed to the Election Commission.
The portal had claimed that the documents which belonged to the case files of 'Satish Verma IPS versus the state of Gujarat' available at the CAT, Guwahati, state that Joti had not vacated the Gujarat government bungalow until late 2016 — for more than a year after he had taken charge of a constitutional post. When asked about the portal's allegation, Joti said if the government had favoured him, he could have got a house in Delhi as soon as he moved to the Capital.
Joti is a 1975-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer who retired as chief secretary in January 31, 2013. He was then appointed vigilance commissioner. He was appointed to the Election Commission in May 2015, and on July 6, 2017, was appointed the chief election commissioner.
(This article was originally published in The Times of India)
