Chandigarh: Flat, plot allottee’s eligibility to be seen on date of declaration, says HC

The petitioner woman, an NRI, had enrolled as a member of the Progressive Cooperative House Building Society Ltd. Chandigarh on March 31, 1980 for a housing scheme in Sector 44. At the time, the petitioner, Suman, did not own any plot or dwelling unit or residential site either in her or her family’s name in the tricity and had submitted an affidavit to that effect on July 28, 1983

The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has quashed the UT’s decision of cancelling plot allotment to an NRI stating that the eligibility of an allottee has to be seen on the date of declaration made by the applicant for the property in question.

The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has quashed the UT’s decision of cancelling plot allotment to an NRI stating that the eligibility of an allottee has to be seen on the date of declaration made by the applicant for the property in question. (HT File)

The petitioner woman, an NRI, had enrolled as a member of the Progressive Cooperative House Building Society Ltd. Chandigarh on March 31, 1980 for a housing scheme in Sector 44. At the time, the petitioner, Suman, did not own any plot or dwelling unit or residential site either in her or her family’s name in the tricity and had submitted an affidavit to that effect on July 28, 1983. She was allotted a plot in Sector-44 on March 28, 1985, on leasehold basis for 99 years. However, in October, 2005, she was issued a show-cause notice for cancellation as a probe by the UT’s the vigilance cell found a flat allotted to her in Sector-40 flat on October 25, 1983.

UT was of the view that she submitted wrong information to secure allotment of the plot and that she had concealed this fact while accepting the allotment in 1985. In April 2013, the estate office cancelled the lease against which she filed an appeal but it was also dismissed.

Following this, she had approached the high court arguing that when she became a member of the society and submitted affidavit for the same, she did not own a property in tricity towns and the Sector-40 flat was subsequently allotted to her.

The court found that the petitioner had been allotted a dwelling unit after her declaration to the society about not owning any plot or dwelling unit. Hence ground taken by UT is not a valid ground to cancel her allotment.

The court referred to similar cases reported in the past in which it was held that the eligibility of an allottee is to be seen on the date of declaration and a future acquisition is not prohibited. It was also held that if any false declaration is made, the society may or may not proceed against the allottee. If it does, it again must be confined only to a situation arising within the four corners of the said scheme, the court had held in an earlier case.

The court also did not find substance in the allegations that she transferred leasehold rights in the property to her attorney before the expiry of 15 years in violation of the condition.