A House For Mr Kejriwal, Found, But With Problems

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), says he was unaware that the house he plans to rent in old Delhi is entangled in a legal dispute between two brothers.

Mr Kejriwal, 44, had decided to move into the house in Delhi's Civil Lines area. "The house was offered to me by Naren Jain," he said.

But Mr Jain's brother, Virendra, says, "The property is under dispute and the Delhi High Court has given an order that status quo should be maintained. Under this, the property cannot be rented out to anybody whereas my brother has already decided to rent it out. This is a clear violation of the court's order."

That's incorrect, said the other Jain, arguing that the court order means "we cannot sell or dispose of the property, but we can certainly give it on rent."

The house at Civil Lines reportedly has four bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a hall. The property was bought by Jains in 2005 and has been lying vacant since then.

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"We thank Naren Jain for offering his house to Arvind Kejriwal. He will shift in this house in Civil Lines area of Delhi after repair and renovation work. The rent of the house will be decided mutually" said a statement from Mr Kejriwal's office recently.

Mr Kejriwal has been staying in the house that he moved into when he took over as chief minister of Delhi at the start of the year. He resigned just 49 days later.

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He had informed Delhi officials that he would vacate the government house in July after his daughter completes her exams; in the meantime, he has been paying rent at market rates.