Prem Chandra Kumar vs Jharkhand State Housing Board
2021 Latest Caselaw 3652 Jhar

      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI

                [Civil Writ Jurisdiction]
                W. P. (C) No. 6480 of 2010
     Prem Chandra Kumar                                .... .. ...   Petitioner(s)
                                   Versus
  1.Jharkhand State Housing Board, through its Managing Director, Harmu, Ranchi.
  2.The Executive Engineer, Jharkhand State Housing Board, Adityapur, Town
  Jamshedpur, Distt :- Seraikella.
  3.The Assistant Engineer, Jharkhand State Housing Board, Adityapur, Town
  Jamshedpur, Distt :- Seraikella.
  4.Sri Harish Chandra Gupta                                     .. ... ... Respondent(s)
                        ...........

CORAM :HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH PRASAD DEO (Through :-Video Conferencing) .........

For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. Sunil Kumar Sinha, Advocate.

   For the Resp.-JSHB               :    Dr. Ashok Kr. Singh, Advocate
   For the Resp. No.4               :    Mr. Rajesh Lala, Advocate.
                        ..........

14 / 28.09.2021. Heard, learned counsel for the petitioner- Mr. Sunil Kumar Sinha and

learned counsel for the Respondent- Jharkhand State Housing Board, Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted, that the petitioner has filed the instant Writ Petition for quashing the order as contained in Letter No.2067 dated 24.11.2010 issued by the Executive Engineer (Sri Vinod Kumar), Jharkhand State Housing Board, Jamshedpur whereby the allotment of the House No.R.S.-2 in favour of the petitioner situated at Asthal No.2, Road No.7 & 8 Adityapur has been cancelled without any show cause to the petitioner.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted, that earlier the Respondent- Jharkhand State Housing Board cancelled the allotment made to Sri Harish Chandra Gupta, who is party- Respondent No.4 in the present Writ Petition because of non-payment of the rent till February, 08 to the tune of Rs.45,960/- vide Memo No.414 dated 18.02.2008 issued under the signature of Executive Engineer. Subsequently this house was allotted to Prem Chandra Kumar (petitioner) with a direction that he should deposit the additional amount to the tune of Rs.24,765/- vide Letter No.141 dated 19.01.2010 (Annexure-2) till 31st January, 2010. Pursuant thereto the petitioner has deposited the said amount within time on 21.01.2010.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has further submitted that thereafter the Jharkhand State Housing Board accepted his amount and allotted the house temporarily vide Annexure-4 i.e. Letter No.144 dated 22.01.2010 and executed an agreement on 06.02.2010 duly signed by the petitioner (Prem Chandra Kumar)

and person authorized on behalf of the Jharkhand State Housing Board, Jamshedpur. Pursuant thereto the Executive Engineer wrote a letter to the Assistant Engineer, Housing Board, Jamshedpur regarding delivery of possession of House No. R.S.-2 to the petitioner (Prem Chandra Kumar) vide Letter No.302 dated 11.02.2010. Subsequently without hearing the petitioner, the Jharkhand State Housing Board issued notice to one Mr. Pawan Kunmar Agrawal, who was in possession of House No.R.S.-2, Adityapur Road No.7 & 8 under Section 83 A of the Jharkhand State Housing Board Act, 1982/ 2001 to vacate the same within ten days as his possession is unauthorized. But, possession was not given to the petitioner, rather on 24.11.2010, the Executive Engineer, Adityapur, Jamshedpur, [Sri Binod Kumar] issued a letter to the petitioner stating that the allotment letter No.144 dated 22.01.2010 is not proper as Sri Gupta (Sri Harish Chandra Gupta) is residing in the said house and he has already deposited the dues vide receipt No.598/26 dated 10.03.2008 to the tune of Rs.25,000/- and thereafter vide money receipt No.702/26 dated 21.01.2010 to the tune of Rs.24,765/-, as such, the allotment of Harish Chandra Gupta [Respondent No.4] is extended.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has further submitted that it is strange that without any show cause to the petitioner, even after keeping money for such a long time by the Housing Board, the petitioner has not been given possession of the flat in question and unilaterally cancelled the same, as such, even if the agreement was temporary for 11 months, the compensation apart form the money with interest shall be returned to the petitioner.

Mr. Rajesh Lala, learned counsel has submitted that Respondent No.4, Sri Harish Chandra Gupta was residing in the said house and now he is dead but his family members are continuing in the said house, Mr. Rajesh Lala, learned counsel has submitted that as such, he has no authority to argue on behalf of the private respondent/ Respondent No.4.

Upon which, Mr. Sunil Kumar Sinha, learned counsel for the petitioner has put serious objection and submitted that for this purpose he has filed I.A. No. 6963 of 2018 categorically stating the relevant fact in Paras 7, 8 and 9, which may profitably be quoted herein.

7. That is most humbly stated that in spite of best effort the petitioner could not able to know as to whether the Respondent no.4 has actually died or not as the occupant of the said House namely Vikash Kumar Agarwal is in judicial custody in G.R. Case No.1224 of 2015 pending in the court of C.J.M., Seraikella and other member of his family has not disclosed as to whether the Respondent no.4 has actually died or is alive and as such in the interest of justice the learned counsel for the petitioner may be directed

to inform this Hon'ble Court the date of death of Respondent no.4 and name of heirs of the Respondent no.4 so that they may be brought on records of this case.

8. That since Sri Vikash Kumar Agrawal is residing in the house in question and as such the Housing Board may also be directed to inform this Hon'ble Court as to under what authority he resides there and the said Vikash Kumar Agarwal may also be added as Respondent no.5 in this case.

9. That it is most humbly submitted that at the one hand the petitioner being genuine allotee of the house has been denied access in the said house and on the other hand the unauthorised occupant has been allowed to live in the said House and as such in the interest of justice it would become necessary to implead Sri Vikash Kumar Agarwal as Respondent no.5.

As such, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that this Hon'ble Court may take judicial notice of the same and pass necessary order.

Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, learned counsel appearing for the Housing Board has submitted that from bare perusal of Annexure-5 at Para 8, it appears that the said house was allotted on rent for a period of 11 months, but no date of delivery of possession has been mentioned in the agreement. However, the Executive Engineer vide Letter No.302 dated 11.02.2010 directed one Anil Kumar Sinha, Assistant Engineer, Housing Board, Jamshedpur to deliver the possession to the petitioner (Prem Chandra Kumar) which has not been done by the Jharkhand State Housing Board, as such, the agreement has not been acted upon.

After hearing, learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the private respondent as well as learned counsel for the Housing Board, this Court is displeased to see the functioning of the Jharkhand State Housing Board. If a house was not vacated pursuant to the default in payment of rent, the Housing Board should not have invited invitation for grant of temporary tenancy of 11 months and accepted the money from the petitioner. The Jharkhand State Housing Board should have given possession of the flat in question to the petitioner soon after the receipt of money and execution of agreement.

This shows that the Managing Director of the Jharkhand State Housing Board has no control over their Executive Engineer or their Assistant Engineer and that is the reason the Housing Board is functioning in such callous/ irresponsible manner. However, since the agreement was with respect to for a period of 11 months temporarily which has never been acted upon, as such, Respondent- Jharkhand State Housing Board is directed to return the entire amount along with interest admissible under the law, which is considered to be @7.5% per annum or the prevalent rate of interest of the Nationalized Bank, which has been quantified by the Apex Court @7.5% per annum in view of the judgment passed in the case of Dharampal & Sons Vs. U. P. State Road Transport

Corporation, reported in (2008) 12 SCC 208.

The money deposited by the petitioner along with interest @7.5% per annum shall be returned to the petitioner within 30 days of production of a copy of this order.

However, if the house, in question is found in possession of any unauthorized person, as alleged by the petitioner in I.A. No.6963 of 2018, the Jharkhand State Housing Board is directed to take legal steps to evict such unauthorized persons from the premises in accordance with law immediately.

Before parting with the judgment, this Court has experienced in last few weeks that a large number of property of the Housing Board are under unauthorized possession, as it has also been found in the case of Rajendra Ram vs. The State of Jharkhand & Ors., passed in Writ Petition vide W.P.(C) No.2099 of 2008, as such, the Managing Director, Jharkhand State Housing Board shall take suitable steps for eviction of unauthorized persons from the property of the Jharkhand State Housing Board, in accordance with law by initiating proceeding within 30 days from today after ascertaining that the properties under encroachment..

The Managing Director, Jharkhand State Housing Board, Ranchi should also issue order so that letter should be issued by the Jharkhand State Housing Board by the competent and authorized person under the Act and agreement should be executed by the authorized person, failing which, this Court shall pass necessary order against the Managing Director, Jharkhand State Housing Board.

With the aforesaid directions, the instant Writ Petition stands disposed of. I.A. No.6963 of 2018 stands closed.

Let a copy of this order be communicated through FAX to the the Managing Director, Jharkhand State Housing Board, Ranchi at once for needful.

(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.) Sandeep/