The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday ruled that the Chandigarh administration employees, who had applied for the 2008 Self-Financing Employee Housing Scheme, will get the flats at brochure rates of the same year.
“The high court has allowed employees’ petition. In the open court, the bench said the rates given in the 2008 brochure will be applicable. It also said that the 2012 MHA notification on land to be given on commercial rates will have prospective effect,” said senior advocate Anupam Gupta, one of the counsels in the case. Detailed judgment from the bench of justice Sureshwar Thakur and justice Lalit Batra is awaited. Around 4,000 flats were to be built in Sectors 52, 53 and 56 by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for government employees as part of the scheme.
The project comprised 252 3BHK flats with servant quarters, 168 2BHK flats with servant quarters, 3,066 1BHK flats and 444 single-room flats for Group D employees.
A draw of lots was held in 2010, in which 3,930 employees among 7,911 applicants were selected. They had then deposited around ₹57 crore with the CHB under the scheme.
However, the project ran into rough weather, as the administration could not make requisite land available for the purpose.
In October 2013, when employees’ realised that UT was dillydallying, they approached the high court, demanding that flats be allotted at the same rates asked for in 2008, within a time-bound manner.
In the past 16 years, as many as 100 employees, who had opted for the scheme, have died.
In high court, UT initially had argued that as per a 2012 letter of department of expenditure, Union government, no land belonging to government could be sold to a local authority, body or any person or institution without prior sanction and specific approval from the Centre. Also, it had to be given on commercial rates. The central government on January 2, 2019, cleared the scheme, although at prevailing collector rate.
This resulted in a major spike in the flats’ rates due to higher cost of land, prompting the employees to move the Punjab and Haryana high court.
While during the launch of the scheme in 2008, UT offered 3BHK flats for ₹34.70 lakh, 2BHK flats for ₹24.30 lakh and 1BHK flats for ₹13.53 lakh; their prices had jumped to ₹1.76 crore; ₹1.35 crore; and ₹99 lakh, respectively.
In February this year, UT had informed the court that it had decided not to go ahead with the scheme, as it was no longer viable. Following this, the court had heard the matter on merit.