HC grants reprieve to J-K migrant labourers, allows them to stay in quarters till March 2026

Holding that it would be “unjust and harsh” to order the immediate eviction of migrant labourers belonging to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted time till March 31, 2026, for them to vacate the quarters they had been residing in for nearly four decades. The bench also directed the authorities to consider their rehabilitation and, if necessary, to frame a policy in that regard.

The court observed that the petitioners had been staying in the Sector 29 quarters provided by the UT Administration for about 37 years. As such, it would be in the interest of justice to accord a reasonable time to make alternative arrangements and vacate the premises.

“We, therefore, deem it appropriate to grant them time till March 31, 2026 to vacate the quarters. We also direct the respondents to consider rehabilitation of the petitioners as they have been residing in Chandigarh for almost four decades and if necessary, consider framing policy in that regard,” the division bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Deepak Manchanda observed, while disposing of a bunch of 15 petitions filed by the migrant labourers.

The matter was placed before the bench after the petitioners sought directions for declaring their eviction without rehabilitation as illegal. They also prayed for directions to the authorities to look into their grievances and to rehabilitate them as per existing policies.

Their counsel contended that the petitioners “ought not to be evicted without following due procedure of law”. It was also argued that the authorities should be directed to “formulate a policy for rehabilitation of the petitioners before evicting them”.

The Union of India and other respondents, on the other hand, told the court that the petitioners were accommodated in 1983-84, after the state of Jammu and Kashmir requested the Chandigarh Administration to provide temporary housing during the harsh winter season for the labourers migrating to the Union Territory to earn their livelihood. The administration acceded to the request and the petitioners were accommodated “only temporarily” in the residential flats handed over by the Chandigarh Administration to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The bench was further told that the state of Jammu and Kashmir later sought vacant possession of the quarters, alleging that the petitioners and others were occupying them “in an unauthorised manner”. Proceedings for eviction were initiated under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, and the Estate Officer passed an eviction order on June 21, 2012.

“It is manifest that the order evicting the residents had been upheld by this court, and it had attained finality in the year 2012. Therefore, the same issue cannot be reopened and re-agitated in the instant petitions. Consequently, we do not find any illegality in the action of the respondents directing the eviction of the petitioners,” the bench made clear after recording the details of the legal battle that ensued.