Jasvir Chaudhary vs Chandigarh Housing Board and another

The order passed by the learned Single Judge dismissing the writ petition has been challenged by filing the present intra-court appeal.

In the case in hand, the appellant was an applicant for allotment of two bedroom dwelling unit under Self Financing Scheme 2016 on lease hold basis.

Her husband had also applied independently. As per the terms laid down in the brochure, independent applications could be filed by husband and wife,

however, in case of allotment only one could retain the allotment and other was to be surrendered within 30 days from the date of draw of lots.

Draw of lots was held on two different dates i.e. 10.06.2016 and 25.07.2016. Immediately after the second draw of lots, as the husband of the

appellant was successful, an application was filed for surrender of allotment in favour of the appellant on 10.08.2016. As per condition No.3 I (iv) as

contained in the brochure, in case application for surrender of dwelling unit is filed within 30 days from the date of draw of lots, initial deposit was to

be refunded without any forfeiture. Despite the fact that surrender of the allotment made in favour of the appellant was made within 30 days from the

date of draw of lots, the respondent deducted 25% of the amount i.e. Rs. 1,72,500/-. The appellant filed application under Section 22C of the Legal

Services Authorities Act, 1987 before the Permanent Lok Adalat (Public Utility Services) U.T., Chandigarh. The same was allowed vide order dated

26.09.2017, which reads as under:-

“She is ordered to be refunded by the respondent a sum of Rs.1,72,500/- along with interest @9% per annum w.e.f. 10.08.2016 till the date of

realization. Also, she is awarded a sum of Rs.10,000/-by way of compensation for the mental agony and harassment, she has suffered. Besides it, she

would be paid Rs.5,000/- as litigation charges for prosecuting these proceedings before this Court.â€​

Aggrieved against the aforesaid award, the Chandigarh Housing Board (for short 'the Board') preferred Civil Writ Petition No.6432 of 2018 and the

same was dismissed in LIMINE without notice to the appellant on 15.03.2018. The learned Single Judge also held that there was no reason to forfeit

any part of the amount initially deposited. It was further held that the appellant shall be entitled to refund of the initial deposit without any deduction

along with the amount of compensation and litigation expenses awarded by the Permanent Lok Adalat. However, a direction was given that the

amount shall be refunded without any interest.

In our opinion, there is error in the order passed by the learned Single Judge to that effect as notice in the writ petition had not been issued. In the

absence thereof, any relief granted to the appellant by the Permanent Lok Adalat could not be set aside. Hence, we modify the order passed by the

learned Single Judge and upheld the order passed by the Permanent Lok Adalat. The appeal is disposed of accordingly.

In case the Board has any grievance against the order passed, it shall be at liberty to file application.