MHADA gets nod to allot houses

The Bombay High Court on Thursday lifted the stay on 3,000 flats allotted by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) under the lottery system in May.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday lifted the stay on 3,000 flats allotted by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) under the lottery system in May.

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The division bench of Justice J.N. Patel and Justice Rekha Sondur-Baldota vacated the stay — imposed last week — on handing over of the possession of flats. However, final allotments would be subject to the final high court order in the public interest litigation hearing.

The court said that if any person comes across any allotment where the person is ineligible or has been made double allotment, then they should lodge a complaint with MHADA.

The housing authority has directed to look into these complaints and take necessary steps, if required.

A PIL seeking that the 3,853 flats allotted by the MHADA through lottery on May 19, be scrapped, was filed by Gayasingh Yadav (80), ex-serviceman. Yadav alleged that the allotment system was faulty.

Following the PIL, last week, the high court had restrained Mhada from handing over possession. The HC on Thursday temporarily accepted the affidavit filed by Gautam Chatterjee, MHADA’s CEO, which assured the court that every application was scrutinised by Mhada officers and there was no scope for any faults.

Yadav’s lawyer Ahmed Abdi argued that the software used for the lottery was faulty. Even the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report had found faults with the software, Abdi argued.