New Delhi, April 11
The Supreme Court has stayed Punjab Government order for dispossession of certain victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots from the houses allotted to them on concessional rates in Amritsar as a relief under the 1985 policy for their alleged failure to pay the “panel rate of interest” after their association moved the apex court.While admitting a joint petition of the Affected Sikh Migrants Society (ASMS) and four other independent allottees under the scheme, a Bench of Mr Justice B.N. Agrawal and Mr Justice A.K. Mathur issued notices to the Secretary, Punjab Housing Development Board, Director, Department of Relief and Resettlement, and Estate Officer of the board’s at Amritsar, seeking their replies.
The court in its order issued yesterday said till further orders, the allottees, estimated to be over 70 in number, should not be dispossessed from the allotted flats.
Petitioners’ counsel senior advocate Mahabir Singh told the apex court that after the Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected their petition in April, 2005 on the issue of recovery of higher amount of money from them, the Punjab Government, in its May 19 order of last year, proceeded for recovery of heavy “penal rate of interest” from them, which was far excess to the amount due from them.
The ASMS has also challenged the High Court order in its special leave petition (SLP) on the ground that as per the provision of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995, the penalty imposed shall not exceed the amount due from the allottees.
Singh told the court that as per the 1985 rehabilitation scheme for the riot victims, LIG houses were to be allotted to them on concessional rates and in some cases free of cost.
The payment was to be made in installments in 25 years with 4.5 per cent interest and the “state government failed to fulfil its moral obligation in providing the promised accommodation to the affected families for a long time”, he alleged.
