Housing scheme for employees: Chandigarh Admn plans to move SC against High Court order

Chandigarh, June 19

The UT Administration is planning to move the Supreme Court against the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court wherein the UT Administration and the Chandigarh Housing Board were directed to start the construction of flats under the self-financing housing scheme for government employees and complete the process within a year.

Sources said the UT Administrator has given in-principle approval to file a review petition in the apex court, but some paperwork was to be completed before filing the petition.

As many as 3,930 applicants/employees were declared successful in the draw of lots for the scheme more than a decade ago.

“No fault can be found at the instance of applicants/employees as they had deposited Rs 57 crore as earnest money with the Board, whereas the latter was required to deposit approximately Rs 43 crore with the UT Administration to comply with the letters of intent dated January 10, 2008,” the Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra had asserted. The judgment was pronounced on May 30.

The petition in the matter was filed way back in 2013. A substantial number of employees since then have retired from service upon attaining the age of superannuation and some of them are staying in rented accommodation. Many applicants have even died over the years.

The housing scheme for the employees was launched in February 2008 by the UT, Chandigarh. The draw of lots was held on November 4, 2010, and approximately 3,950 employees were successful in the draw of lots. But nothing was apparently done by the CHB. Even acceptance-cum-demand letters were not issued to the successful applicants and “the bureaucrats at high level were sleeping over the matter”.