1996 (12) TMI 397 - SC - Indian Laws

Issues Involved:
1. Who should face eviction?
2. How much licence fee should be charged from those out-of-turn allottees who would become liable to eviction on account of their illegal occupation of the quarters in question?
3. What should be done in case of those Government employees who had occupied quarters on out-of-turn basis, but who are not required to be evicted by now?
4. How should those who were denied allotment, despite the same having become due as per the Rules, be compensated?
5. Should there be any out-of-turn allotment? If the answer be in affirmative, how should it be regulated and what should be its limit?
6. Should private citizens (to wit, journalists, freedom-fighters, artists and social workers) be accommodated in Government quarters? If so, on what terms?
7. Should political parties and other organisations be given allotment of Government quarters? If so, which of them and on what terms?
8. Should high holders of political office, like President, Vice-President and Prime Minister be accommodated in Government quarters after demitting of office by them? If so, on what terms?
9. At what rate penalty has to be realised from those who were unauthorisedly occupying the Government quarters?
10. Has the Government any power to waive charges which have become payable as per the Rules in vogue?
11. What should be done regarding those Government employees who had sublet their premises; and what should be done as regards the occupants of these let premises?
12. Whether apart from the general pool and tenure pool, if required to be retained, there should be other pools; and, if so, for whom and how the same should be regulated?
13. How to prevent in future the scam of the type at hand?

Summary:

1. Who should face eviction?
The Court decided that those occupying quarters under Categories IV, VI, IX, X, XI, and certain Category VII allottees, who had not become entitled to in-turn allotment by the date of the reports, should face eviction. IAS, IPS, IFS officers occupying General Pool quarters despite eligibility for Tenure Pool would also be evicted. A new list would be drawn up, and notices would be served requiring them to vacate within 90 days.

2(a). How much licence fee should be charged from those out-of-turn allottees who would become liable to eviction on account of their illegal occupation of the quarters in question?
Out-of-turn allottees are to be treated as ineligible persons and charged twice the licence fee for Type III quarters and three times for Type IV and above.

2(b). What should be done in case of those Government employees who had occupied quarters on out-of-turn basis, but who are not required to be evicted by now?
These allottees should be charged the same licence fee as those being evicted, as per the rates mentioned above.

3. How should those who were denied allotment, despite the same having due as per the Rules, be compensated?
The additional licence fee collected from out-of-turn allottees would be used to compensate those employees who were illegally denied their allotments. The Ministry would frame a scheme within three months, and compensation would be paid within three months thereafter.

4. Should there be any out-of-turn allotment? If the answer be in affirmative, how should it be regulated and what should be its limit?
Out-of-turn allotment should be minimal and regulated with transparency. Ministries/Departments would frame rules within three months, and allotments would be limited to 5% of each type of house falling vacant annually. Reasons for allotments would be documented, and a yearly statement would be laid before Parliament.

5. Should private citizens (to wit, journalists, freedom-fighters, artists and social workers) be accommodated in Government quarters? If so, on what terms?
Future allotments to artists and social workers would be from the 5% discretionary quota. Present occupants would be dealt with according to specific guidelines. Journalists would be allotted accommodation from the Press Pool based on guidelines provided by the Press Council of India, excluding free lancers.

6. Should political parties and other organisations be given allotment of Government quarters? If so, which of them and on what terms?
Political parties would be allotted quarters based on guidelines to be framed, with advice from the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Vice-Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Other organisations would not be entitled to General Pool allotments but could be considered under the discretionary quota.

7. Should high holders of political office, like President, Vice-President and Prime Minister be accommodated in Government quarters after demitting of office by them? If so, on what terms?
High holders of political office should be accommodated in government premises after demitting office, with terms to be decided by the Government.

8. At what rate penalty has to be realised from those who were unauthorisedly occupying the Government quarters?
Penalties would be as per the relevant rules and Section 7 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.

9. Has the Government any power to waive charges which have become payable as per the Rules in vogue?
The Court held that waiver orders have no sanction of law, and recovery proceedings would follow the order passed on 29.11.1996.

10. What should be done regarding those Government employees who had sublet their premises; and what should be done as regards the occupants of these let premises?
Departmental proceedings would be initiated against employees who sublet their premises, and sub-letees, being unauthorised occupants, would be evicted expeditiously.

11. Whether apart from the general pool and tenure pool, if required to be retained, there should be other pools; and, if so, for whom and how the same should be regulated?
Apart from the General Pool, Tenure Pool and Press Pool, quarters should be earmarked for high office holders and managed by relevant authorities.

12. How to prevent in future the scam of the type at hand?
To prevent future scams, the construction of more government quarters is necessary. A high-powered committee would be formed to report within six months. The Government should also consider debarment of employees owning houses in nearby towns from getting government accommodation in Delhi.

Conclusions:
The Court provided a detailed list of conclusions summarizing the decisions on each issue, including eviction procedures, licence fee charges, compensation, discretionary quotas, and measures to prevent future scams.

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