Punjab-Haryana High Court
Ram Niwas vs State Of Haryana And Others on 19 March, 2012
Bench: Hemant Gupta, A.N. Jindal
Civil Writ Petition No. 4982 of 2012 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
Civil Writ Petition No. 4982 of 2012
Date of decision:- 19.03.2012
Ram Niwas ....Petitioner
Vs.
State of Haryana and others ....Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.N. JINDAL
Present: Mr. Surender Pal, Advocate,
for the petitioner.
HEMANT GUPTA, J. (Oral)
Challenge in the present writ petition is to the condition in policy dated 03.02.2010 and condition in the advertisement issued by respondent No.3, inviting applications for allotment of plots/flats meant for Economically Weaker Sections.
The petitioner is a resident of Kaithal and has been recognized as a person belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL). The State Government has framed a policy for allotment of land/plots for the Economically Weaker Sections in the licenced colonies on 03.02.2010 (Annexure P-1). The policy contemplates that such flats should not be less than 200 Sq. feet and the maximum cost is Rs.50,000/-. Condition No.5 is that the applicant should be resident of Haryana or should have been working in Haryana for at least six months on the date of application. Further eligibility criteria is that any person registered under BPL family and includes his/her spouse or his/her dependent children who do not own any flat/plot in any HUDA Civil Writ Petition No. 4982 of 2012 2 Sector/licensed colony in any of the Urban Areas in the State, will be eligible for making the application. First preference will be given to the BPL families listed in the same town, followed by listed in the District and then the State.
The grievance of the petitioner is that once a BPL family is eligible for allotment of plot/flat, then the condition that the preference will be given to the BPL family listed in the same town, followed by the District and then the State is arbitrary and creates artificial classification. The relevant clause reads as under:-
"a) Any person registered under BPL family and includes his/her spouse or his/her dependent children who do not own any flat/plot in any HUDA Sector/licensed colony in any of the Urban Areas in the State, will be eligible for making the application.
b) First preference will be given to the BPL families listed in the same town, followed by listed in the district and then the State."
We do not find any merit in the present writ petition. The Policy contemplates that the first preference will be given to the BPL families listed in the same Town, followed by the District and then by the State. Such policy has reasonable nexus with the objective to be achieved. The members of Economically Weaker Sections residing in the same District are to be preferred for alternative accommodation. Such allotment will provide good living condition to the members of the weaker sections of society near the place of their work. Therefore, the preference to BPL listed in the same town is perfectly justified. The same reasoning holds good for the BPL listed in the District and then in the State.
Civil Writ Petition No. 4982 of 2012 3
The petitioner, who is a resident of Kaithal cannot claim allotment of a flat at Gurgaon being a member of BPL family, when he is not working at Gurgaon. The allotment of flats is not intended to be an investment nor a source of profiteering.
Consequently, we do not find any merit in the present petition. The same is accordingly dismissed.
(HEMANT GUPTA)
JUDGE
(A.N. JINDAL)
March 19, 2012 JUDGE
ajp/vimal