Jammu: An RTI response has revealed that Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti spent around Rs 82 lakh in the six-month span, i.e. from January to June 2018, when she was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of J&K.
The amount was spent for the purpose of the refurbishment of her official residence at Srinagar’s Gupkar Road, added the response. It further said that the expenditure was all paid by the Government of India.
Filed by Jammu and Kashmir-based activist Inam-un-Nabi Soudagar, the RTI application reveals that Mufti spent around Rs 82 lakh on furniture items, TVs, bed sheets, and other items between January-June 2018.
It also shows that on March 28, 2018, Mehbooba Mufti spent Rs 28 lakh for purchasing carpets. The former J&K CM spent over Rs 25 lakh on various items, including LED TVs worth Rs 22 lakh, in June 2018 alone.
As per the RTI response dated September 1, 2020, there were expenses worth Rs 14 on January 30, 2017. The items purchased included a garden umbrella worth Rs 2,94,314.
Bed sheets worth Rs 11,62,000 were bought on February 22, 2018. In March 2018, Mufti spent around Rs 25 lakh on furniture and Rs 28 lakh on carpets.
Cutlery items worth Rs 40 lakh were bought from August 2016 to July 2018.
The Jammu and Kashmir government had in October 2020 revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) charges against the PDP chief, under which she was detained in Kashmir.
Besides Mehbooba Mufti, dozens of politicians of PDP, National Conference and other political parties of Kashmir were detained by the Centre when it bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — on August 5, 2019.
Article 370 was also revoked which earlier granted special status to J&K in the Indian Constitution. (Agencies)
