New Delhi, Sept. 18: The Supreme Court today pulled up the Centre for its double standards in dealing with squatters in government bungalows.

The court, which wants the law to be changed to make illegal occupation a non-bailable offence, said the government did not have the “guts” to evict politicians and political parties from bungalows in the capital.

“It’s amusing… you want to hang peons… while you scratch each other’s backs,” the bench said.

“Look at the Union territory of Delhi. The cabinet committee is regularising all illegal occupation. What are you doing about political parties? How many of them are occupying bungalows? A time will come when they will all become memorials.”

The allusion to several bungalows that have been turned into memorials — the home of late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram, BSP leader Kanshi Ram — was not lost on the audience.

Several other proposals to convert bungalows into memorials are pending with the government. “Once a politician enters (an official bungalow), he doesn’t leave,” the court said. “Your government has no guts to evict anybody… because of vote banks. This political party, some other political party, there’s no difference.”

The court was angered by the Centre’s failure to file an affidavit on whether overstaying could be made a non-bailable offence.

The government, however, feels existing laws are enough to tackle the problem. According to the laws, action is first initiated against a government servant for recovery of penal rent and eviction notices are issued later. But the court wants the order reversed.

“First arrest and then recovery,” the court has repeatedly said.

It also wants the mode of recovery worked out. But its orders — on July 24, 2007, and August 2, 2007 — seeking the Centre’s response have gone unheeded.