E-Paper
891 properties found with parts sold outside family, Chandigarh admn informs HC
Screening of Estate Office record and physical inspections reveals that shares of properties have been sold, even to multiple owners in some cases
As many as 891 properties have been found in Chandigarh where a part of a property was sold to someone outside the family, a report submitted by the UT administration before the high court has revealed.
At 118, the highest number of such properties was found in Sector 22, followed by 72 in Sector 37, 63 in Sector 20 and 61 in Sector 15.
The survey was conducted in August after the Punjab and Haryana high court in July ordered UT to submit a list of residential properties transferred or sold up to December 31, 2019, on a pattern of share(s) to the extent of 50%, 30% or 20% transferred to a person outside the family of the original owner.
In July, the administration in its response had maintained that a building plan is approved for the entire building and not floorwise. It had also submitted that fragmentation of a plot was not permitted, although there is no prohibition on occupation of the site by more than one family.
It had also said that no sale of defined portion/floor of a building is permissible nor any such sale has been recognised by the administration.
Developers acquired parts, sold them off further
The latest data submitted in high court reveals that after transfer of a share of a property, in a considerable number of cases, it was further sold off, even to multiple owners.
There are also properties where a portion was acquired by developers and sold to multiple persons.
The report also indicates that there are cases where sale has taken place floorwise. Furthermore, in a large number of cases, construction was underway.
The 891 properties were identified on the basis of screening of Estate Office record, followed by a physical inspection of 281 houses by 10 teams. The sale deeds, excluding transfers within the family, were executed from August 28, 2016 to December 31, 2019.
The high court had ordered the survey on a batch of petitions pending since 2016, seeking prohibitory orders on conversion of residential plots into apartments.
Residential plots in Chandigarh are meant to be single-dwelling units. However, in the recent years, these are being sold floorwise to multiple owners, which would destroy the city and put additional burden on infrastructure, one of the pleas argues. UT has maintained that it does not allow floorwise sale.
HC’s July order was also challenged by a Sector-27 resident in the Supreme Court, arguing that there is no prohibition on multiple individuals, even from distinct families, buying residential units, with a caveat that the construction of the home must be done in a cohesive manner and as a single entity.
Acting on it, the apex court had stayed the survey. However, subsequently, the stay was vacated as UT apprised the court of the survey having already been undertaken.
On Thursday, sealed cover reports were submitted before the high court.
The court ordered that the copies be given to all parties and posted the matter for Monday, asking them to submit their views on the findings.
