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Chandigarh: Property owners take to roads against ban on share-wise sale
The protesters warned of hunger strike if their demands are not met by Union minister Amit Shah after a meeting on December 22
Aggrieved by the ban on floor-wise sale of property in Chandigarh’s heritage sectors, property owners on Saturday announced a hunger strike outside the BJP headquarters if they were not provided a resolution by Union home minister Amit Shah, who is set to visit Chandigarh on December 22.
The Chandigarh Property Shareholders Welfare Association also organised a car and bike rally, with participation of the Chandigarh Property Consultants Association, Federation of Sectors Welfare Federation and Chandigarh Business Council, along with residents having share-wise ownership of residential properties.
Comprising over 250 cars and 100 bikes, the rally started from the ground opposite Sham Fashion Mall in Sector 34 and passed through markets of Sectors 34, 33, 32, 27,19, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 38, 37, 36 and 35, before returning to the starting point.
The protesters were joined by Pawan Kumar Bansal and HS Lucky from the Congress; and Dr Sunny Ahluwalia, Daman Preet Singh, Prem Lata and Anju Katyal from the Aam Admi Party.
Following the rally, Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra assured the property organisations that he will arrange their meeting with the home minister during his visit to the city on December 22.
Property Shareholders Welfare Association chairman Vikram Chopra said if Shah assured of a resolution on December 22, they wait. Otherwise, all participating organisations will launch a hunger strike outside BJP headquarters Kamalam in Sector 33 on January 26, observing Republic Day as “black day”.
On January 10, the Supreme Court had ruled that first 30 sectors of Chandigarh carried the heritage status of Le Corbusier zone and, therefore, conversion of residential houses into floor-wise apartments cannot be permitted in these sectors.
Following the apex court’s order, UT had imposed a ban on registrations for share transfers outside the family and the approval of building plans for properties co-owned by strangers or non-family members. As a result, hundreds of share-wise property agreements had been declared null and void.
The stakeholders, however, claimed that there was no mention of stopping share-wise registrations in the SC order or petition, which, they argued, was to look into the maps of properties from Sectors 1 to 30 before passing them.
They argued that properties deals worth around ₹500 crore were held up due to the ban, affecting several property holders who want to sell a part of their property for various reasons, including financial security in old age, medical treatment, children’s education and marriages, moving abroad or further investments.
But the UT administration was paying no heed, they said.
