Mohan Singh and Others vs The State of Punjab and Others

S.P. Goyal, J.—The Government of India framed a scheme known as Subsidised Industrial Housing Scheme to provide houses to the Industrial workers in the various industrial towns. In order to regularise the allotment of chase houses, the Punjab Government enacted the Punjab Industrial Housing Act. 1956 and framed rules, u/s 24 of this Act known as the Punjab Industrial Housing Rules, 1,956 (hereinafter called the Act and the Rules respectively). The procedure for the allotment of the houses is provided in Rule 5 of the Rules and its relevant portion reads as under:

Procedure of Allotment:--(1) Whenever houses constructed under the Scheme are vacant arid The Labour Commissioner is of the view that they would be let out, he shall issue a notice specifying therein the number of houses available for allotment, the monthly rent and other particulars thereof along with the terms and conditions of allotment. Copies of the notice shall be sent at least ten clear days in advance of the proposed allotment to the managements of all local factories governed by the Factories Act, 1948. Copies of the notice shall also be pasted at such other prominent places as deemed proper by the Labour Commissioner.

(2) Applications for allotment of houses shall be submitted in Form ''A'' appended to these rules.

(3) The Labour Commissioner shall prepare separate lists of such workers whose wages do not exceed two hundred and fifty, rupees per mensem. The names of application shall be arranged in the order in which they submit their applications for allotment of houses.

(4) Allotments shall be made in the order of the date of sub-mission of application preference being given to Applicants who have not already been provided with suitable houses by the employers:

Provided that the Labour Commissioner may allottee 10 percent of the accomodation out of turn, for reasons to be recorded in writing in each case.

In the month of June, 1979, 222 one-room quarters were available for allotment in the Industrial Housing Colony, Dhahdhari Kalan, Ludhiana. Consequently a notice Annexure P-I, dated. June, 5, 1979 was issued in accordance with the provisions of Rule 5 of the Rules inviting applications from industrial labourers drawing less than Rs. 500/- per mensum" The Petitioners along with many other workers submitted their applications within the prescribed period which were duly entered in the register serial wise. Before the expiry often days, the notice period, some of the industrial workers challenged the issueance of the fresh notice, Annexure P-I and an order staying its operation was secured from the Court on June 13, 1979. The petition was, however, ultimately dismissed vide judgment dated November 5, 1979. Thereafter a fresh notice, Annexure P-4, was issued on June 11. 1980 inviting applications for allotment of the quarters in respect of which earlier notice, Annexure P-l had been issued. The Petitioners have challenged by way of petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the validity and legality of fresh notice, Annexure P-4, mainly on the ground that a valid notice having been already issued and the applications submitted in response thereto, the Labour Commissioner, Respondent No. 2 bad no authority to issue a fresh notice which would necessarily deprive them of the right of allotment of the quarters on the "first come first served" basis.

The petition has been opposed both by the State as well as the private Respondents. Some labour unions were also impleaded as Respondents to the petition by the Motion Bench but after hearing the counsel representing them, I find that they have no locus standi to intervene and their counsel was not heard on merits. The defence set up by the State as well as the private Respondents is that ten days period of the earlier notice had not expired when its operation was stayed by this Court. The earlier notice thus having become invalid a fresh notice had to be issued It was further pleaded that the fresh instructions had been issued by the Government of India whereby the criteria for allotment was further changed giving first preference to the workers getting wages upto Rs. 350/-per month which also necessitated the issuance of a fresh notice.

A perusal of the provisons of Rule 5 of the Rules would show that whenever the quarters are available for allotment to industrial [labourers, notice has to be issued requiring the eligible labourers to submit their applications within ten days to the labour Commissioner. These applications are registered serial wise in the register of allotment and the quarters are allotted on the basis of "first come first served." In the present case when the quarters is dispute were available for allotment, notice Exhibit P-I, was issued in accordance with the Rules. The Petitioners and many industrial Labourers submitted their applications in the prescribed form which were duly entered in the allotment register. The Petitioners and the other industrial labourers who submitted their applications got a right of allotment of the quarters in accordance with the serial number allotted to them. The right accrued to tic Petitioners, being a statutory right granted under the provisions of the Act and the Rules, the Labour Commissioner has no authority to deny them that right or set it at naught by issuing fresh notice in the absence of any provision in the Rules enabling him to do so.

The learned Counsel for the State, as noticed above, put forward two grounds to justify the issuance of the fresh notice but none of them is tenable. The first ground urged was that the operation of the earlier notice having been stayed by this Court before the expiry of notice period, it became necessary to issue fresh notice to enable the industrial workers to submit their applications. The legal position in such cases, however, is that whenever the period for filing or making applications starts running but is suspended by an order of the Court it would continue to run again as soon as the order of the Court comes to an end. Consequently, the remaining period of the notice could be availed of by the industrial workers for making their applications as soon as the order of this Court dated June 13, 1979 staying its operation came to an end with the decision of Civil Writ Petition on November 5, 1979. The notice issued could not become invalid or inoperative because its operation had been stayed prior to the full period of this notice had expired and the only effect on he stay order of this Court was that the period of notice had stopped running during the time the stay order remained operative The earlier notice, the validity of which had been up held in the Civil Writ Petition No. 2005 of 1979 Jagir Singh and Ors. v. State of Punjab decided on November 5, 1979, therefore, could not be taken to have become invalid for the said reason so as to enable the Labour Commissioner to issue a fresh notice.

The other ground that since fresh instructions have been issued by the Government of India making the labourers drawing pay above Rs. 350/- eligible for allotment of one room quarters, it has become necessary to issue a fresh notice is equally devoid of any merit because any instruction by the Government of India would not have the effect of nullifying the statutory provisions of the Act and the Rules The only way to give effect to them was to make the necessary amendment in the Act and the Rules. But no amendment having been made in the Rules, those instructions could not be given effect to. Even if for the sake of arguments, it may be accepted that the State was bound to comply with those instructions as the Housing Scheme was was entirely financed by the Central Government, the same could be given effect to while making the allotment of the quarters because in the notice, Annexure P-I, application bad bet r invited from all the industrial labourers drawing pay upto Rs. 500/- p.m.

An attempt was also made by the learned Counsel for the State to urge on the basis of the decision in the earlier Civil Writ Petition No. 2005/-1979 that the Labour Commissioner was competent to issue a fresh notice. The argument is, however wholly falacious. The validity of the fresh notice in the earlier petition was up held on the ground that the notice issued prior thereto ha 1 exhausted before all the quarters which were available then had been allotted and a fresh notice was required to be issued when more quarters were constructed and became available for allotment. In the present case, the quarters with respect to which the notice had been issued are yet to be allotted and on the analogy of the earlier decision it cannot be uged that the Labour Commissioner was competent to issue a fresh notice under the Rules.

In the result, this petition is allowed with costs and the notice, Annexure P-4 quashed The Respondents Nos. 1 and 2 are further directed to make allotment of the quarters which were available for allotment when notice, Annexure P-I, was issued, to the Applicants whose name had been entered in the register of allotment within the period allowed under the said notice and are eligible in accordance with the rules.