HC directs respondents consider claim of SDA Union for allotment of plots

01/07/2021

Jammu, Jul 1: The J&K High Court quashed the Order bearing No. SDA/VC/80 dated 5th of July, 2017, whereby the claim of the Petitioner-Union stands rejected and directed respondents to accord fresh consideration to the claim of the Petitioner-Union for allotment of plots in terms of the rules governing the field.
In the earlier round of litigation, the Petitioner-Union (Employees of Srinagar Development Authority), in the year 2015, approached this Court through the medium Writ Petition bearing OWP No.7740/2015, seeking a direction in the name of the Respondents to allot the left-out plots in favour of the employees of the Authority who had not been allotted such plots in tune with the policy framed by the Government on the subject and on the same analogy as has been adopted in the case of similarly situated employees of the working with the Respondents.
The said Writ Petition, in terms of Order dated 29th of April, 2015, came to be disposed of with the direction to the Respondents to accord consideration to the claim of the Petitioner-Union as set out in the Petition in light of averments made therein, annexures appended thereto; and, of course, in accordance with the rules governing the field.
It is submitted that the Order aforesaid passed by this Court was served upon the Respondents, however, despite lapse of considerable period of time, the same remained unimplemented, constraining the Petitioner-Union to file Contempt Petition No.345/ 2016. During the pendency of this Contempt Petition, the Respo-ndents issued Order bearing No. SDA/VC/80 dated 5th of July, 2017, whereby the claim of the Petitioner-Union stands rejected. It is this rejection Order dated 5th of July, 2017 that has been assailed by the Petitioner-Union herein in this present Petition.
In terms of Order dated 6th of November, 2017, this Court, while issuing notice to the Respondents, as an ad-interim measure, restrained the Respondents from auctioning, allotting/ using or utilizing the 159 plots of land at Bemina Housing Colony earmarked for the employees of the Petitioner-Union.
Justice Ali Mohammad Magr-ey after hearing both the sides observed that raised in the earlier Petition filed by the Petitioner-Union, too, did not find any mention in the impugned consideration Order issued by the Respondents.
What has been merely stated by the Respondents in the impugned consideration Order is that the Board did not agree to the proposal of allotment of residential plots in favour of SDA employees as the proposal was found devoid of merit, however, no reason/ground to support this view/conclusion has been supplied by the Respondents which renders the consideration Order unsustainable in the eyes of law. In view of the preceding analysis, the Petition of the Petitioner-Union is allowed & the impugned consideration Order bearing No. SDA/VC/80 dated 5th of July, 2017 dated 5th of July, 2017 is quashed. The Respondents are directed to accord fresh consideration to the claim of the Petitioner-Union for allotment of plots in terms of the rules governing the field.

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