Sharad started party, using bungalow to damage JD (U), SC told

The Nitish Kumar-led JDU has filed an additional affidavit in the Supreme Court telling the court about Sharad Yadav having "launched a new political party", the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), last month to buttress its argument that the latter's claim over the JD (U) is untenable.

The leader of the JD (U) in the Rajya Sabha, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, last week submitted to the Supreme Court the photographs, video clippings, posters and banners of the May 18 event in New Delhi when the LJD's formation was announced in dominant presence of Sharad Yadav.

The additional affidavit was filed last week with regard to a Special Leave Petition filed by Singh in May, in which he had made a strong pitch for Yadav to vacate the official bungalow, saying that the high court's interim order has "caused irreparable damage" since Yadav is "using the official bungalow to further damage the JDU".

The petition will be heard by the Supreme Court's vacation bench on Wednesday.

The Delhi High Court, in an interim order on December 15 last year, allowed Yadav to avail the official perks and facilities of an MP, including the use of his official residence, until it decides on Yadav's plea challenging his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha.

In the petition before the SC, the JD (U) elaborated on the alleged "erroneous" grant of interim relief to Yadav by the high court through its orders on December 15 last year and March 1 this year that permitted the latter to draw all allowances and pre-requisites, including retaining the residential accommodation as a member of the Rajya Sabha even when he remains disqualified from the membership of the House.

While Yadav's camp finds "intriguing" the JD (U)'s "urgency" in moving the SLP in the Supreme Court when the matter was pending with the high court, the Nitish camp has said in the SLP that Yadav is "delaying the final adjudication of the writ petition".

Yadav, who is residing in his 7, Tughlak Road bungalow, has been meeting Opposition leaders to work out an non-NDA front in 2019 and had been very critical of Nitish Kumar's decision to junk the Grand Alliance.