Delay in plot allotment: Conditional penalty of Rs 5 lakh imposed by Punjab and Haryana High Court on Ludhiana Improvement Trust chief

Tribune News Service

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Ludhiana, August 28

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a conditional penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) Tarsem Singh Bhinder. The order states that the Chairman had to pay penalty from his own pocket if the Trust fails to allot a plot to a woman in the Local Displaced Person (LDP) category by the next date of hearing.

Tejveer Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab, along with Tarsem Singh Bhinder, Chairman, Ludhiana Improvement Trust, was present in the court and assured the implementation of the order in letter and in spirit shall be carried out before the next date of hearing, which is August 29.

Viren Jai and Komaljit Kaur were the lawyers for the petitioner.

The court order copy, which is with The Tribune, also made it clear that in case, undertaking extended before this court is not complied with, the LIT Chairman will be liable to pay a cost of Rs 5 lakh to the petitioner on account of inordinate and unexplained delay in compliance with the order. The cost shall be borne from his own pocket and in case of default, the same would be recovered as arrears of land revenue. The court also orders that the Chairman, Ludhiana Improvement Trust, shall remain present in the court on the next date of hearing. However, the presence of Tejveer Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab, is dispensed with.

Meanwhile, LIT Chairman Bhinder said the penalty had not been levied and the matter would be resolved.

Notably in 2001, Pritam Kaur petitioned the High Court to challenge orders issued on December 22, 1999, regarding the allotment of a plot under the LDP category. The final orders, passed on February 10, 2015, dismissed her petition, stating that she had applied for a plot without advertisement in 1984, which was not in line with the procedure at that time. Though Kaur argued that other co-sharers received plots without advertisement, the court disagreed. The court noted that while the LIT had not followed law in allotting plots to other co-sharers, Kaur could not claim a plot on the same basis. However, the court ruled that Kaur’s claim could not be ignored indefinitely and that she would be considered for a plot allotment when the LIT decided to allot plots to landowners whose land had been acquired. In 2020, Kaur filed a contempt petition, alleging violation of the HC orders. On August 20, the court initiated contempt proceedings, observing that Kaur’s claim had not been considered despite previous orders, while other local displaced persons had received plots. Bhinder stated that no penalty had been imposed so far and that action would be taken according to law after reviewing documents.

What The order says

The order states that the Ludhiana Improvement Trust Chairman had to pay penalty of Rs 5 lakh from his own pocket if the LIT fails to allot a plot to a woman in the Local Displaced Person (LDP) category by the next date of hearing, which is August 29.