Jaswant Singh and Another vs Chandigarh (U.T.) Administration and Others

S.S. Sodhi, J.—The matter here concerns out of turn allotment of government residential accommodation to a specified relation of the retiring government servant to whom it had been allotted while he was in service

The petitioner Jaswant Singh had been allotted house 12/624 in Sector 7, Chandigarh, which is a 12 type house. Upon his retirement on October 31, 1990. his son Inderjit Singh, the secod petitioner was allotted house 13/960 in Sector 20, Chandigarh. The allotment order being of February 11, 1991 (Annexure P-5) This allotment was of a house one category below that which had been occupied by his father.

According to the petitioners, as the house allotted to Inderieet Singh was below his entitlement, in that it was of category 13 and not 12, he represented against it to the Chandigarh Administration The Chandigarh Administration, it is said, took no notice of this repre sentation, rather by its orders of March 21, 1991 (Annexure P-6) and April 5, 1991 (Annexure P 7) cancelled the allotment of house 12/624 Sector 7 and directed that vacant possession thereof be handed over to it. Later proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 were also initiated against them

In seeking to assail the impugned orders of Chandigarh Administration cancelling the allotment of house 12/624, Sector 7, Chandigarh and allotting instead a 13 type house (13/1960 in Sector 20), Inderjeet Singh petitioner sought to brand the latest policy of the Chandigarh Administration which came into effect from February 28, 1989 (Annexure P-4) as arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16. This is, indeed, a wholly untenable challenge. This policy has been upheld as legal and valid bv the judgment of the Division Bench in L P A. 1247 of 1991 (Chandigarh Administration v. Sham Singh, L. P. A. 1247 of 1991) decided on December 1, 1992. This being so, the cancellation of the allolment in favour of the petitioner Jaswant Singh and allotment of a lower category house to the other petitioner Inder Jeet Singh suffers from no legal infirmity. We, however, now direct the Chandigarh Administration, in the peculiar circumstances arising in this case from the fact that this policy of 1983 had earlier been held to be invalid by the learned Single Judge, to make a fresh allotment of government residential accommodation to the petitioner Inder Jeet Singh in accordance with his entitlement as per the relevant instructions now in force and the petitioners be permitted to continue in possession of the house allotted to Jaswant Singh till such alternative allotment is made to. Inder Jeet Singh. If Inder Jeet Singh vacates this house within the time specified in the fresh order of allotment to be made in his favour, no rent in excess of the normal rent be charged.

This writ petition is disposed, of in these terms.