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J&K govt tells Mehbooba Mufti to vacate official residence

Mufti has been living in the building, known as Fairview, since 2005

INDIA-KASHMIR-POLITICS Mehbooba Mufti | AFP

The J&K government on Friday asked People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti to vacate her residence at Gupkar Road.

Mufti has been living in the building known as Fairview, the vintage building with a big lawn overlooking the Dal lake, since 2005—three years after her late father, Mufti Muhammad Sayyed, became the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Gupkar is considered Srinagar’s most posh area. Fairview lies on the same road where Hari Niwas, the palace of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kashmir is located.

The area is considered high security in view of the offices of several security agencies and one of the entry points to the Army’s 15 Corps headquarters. The eviction notice was served to Mufti by the Estates Department. After Article 370 revocation, former chief ministers in Jammu and Kashmir are no longer entitled to retain their official residences for life as the law that permitted it was amended by the Centre.

Mufti has been offered an alternative in lieu of Fairview which was known as PAPA-2, a notorious interrogation centre in the 90s of the BSF. In 1996, former chief secretary Ashok Jaitley used the building as his residence. In 2003 it was renovated and served as the residence of then Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig.

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