Shri Themerimung Zimik vs The State Of Manipur Represented ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 279 Mani

LHAINEI Digitally
        by
                  signed
                           IN THE HIGH COURT OF MANIPUR
CHONG HAOKIP
        LHAINEICHONG

        Date: 2022.07.05
HAOKIP 13:14:01 +05'30'
                                         AT IMPHAL
                               W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021
                Shri Themerimung Zimik, aged about 37 years s/o Reisingla Zimik
                a permanent resident of Sirarakhong Village, P.O. & P.S. Somdal,
                District Ukhrul, Manipur at present residing at Qtr. No. Type-III/B-7,
                Lamphelpat, Imphal West District, Manipur.
                                                                        ... Petitioner
                                             -Versus -

                1. The State of Manipur represented by the Additional Chief
                   Secretary(Works) Government of Manipur, Secretariat
                   Complex, Babupara, Imphal.
                2. The Deputy Secretary (Works), Government of Manipur,
                   Secretariat Complex, Babupara, Imphal.
                3. The Assistant Engineer-IV, Building Division No. II, PWD,
                   Government of Manipur, PWD Office Complex, Khuyathong,
                   Imphal.
                4. Shri Pukhram Surjit Singh, LDA, District and Sessions Judge,
                   Imphal East, Manipur, Cheirap Court Complex, Imphal, P.O. &
                   P.S. Imphal, Manipur-795001.
                                                              ........Respondents

With W.P.(C) No. 102 of 2022 Shri Themerimung Zimik, aged about 37 years s/o Reisingla Zimik a permanent resident of Sirarakhong Village, P.O. & P.S. Somdal, District Ukhrul, Manipur at present residing at Qtr. No. Type-III/B-7, Lamphelpat, Imphal West District, Manipur.

... Petitioner

-Versus -

1. The State of Manipur represented by the Commissioner (Works)-cum-Estates Officer, Government of Manipur, Secretariat Complex, Babupara, Imphal-795001.

2. The Joint Secretary (Works), Government of Manipur, Secretariat Complex, Babupara, Imphal-795001.

3. The Deputy Secretary (Works), Government of Manipur, Secretariat Complex, Babupara, Imphal-795001.

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 1

3. The Assistant Engineer-IV, Building Division No. II, PWD, Government of Manipur, PWD Office Complex, Khuyathong, Imphal.-795001.

4. Shri Pukhram Surjit Singh, LDA, District and Sessions Judge, Imphal East, Manipur, Cheirap Court Complex, Imphal, P.O. & P.S. Imphal, Manipur-795001.

........Respondents With W.P.(C) No. 203 of 2022 Shri Pukhram Surjit Singh, LDA, District and Sessions Judge, Imphal East, Manipur, Cheirap Court Complex, Imphal, P.O. & P.S. Imphal, Manipur-795001, and permanent resident of Moirang Pukhram Leikai, P.O. & P.S.-Moirang, Bishnupur district, PIN- 795133.

... Petitioner

-Versus -

1. The State of Manipur represented by the Additional Chief Secretary (Works)-cum Estates Officer, Government of Manipur, Secretariat Complex, Babupara, Imphal-795001, North Block.

2. The Deputy Secretary (Works), Government of Manipur, Secretariat Complex, Babupara, Imphal-795001, North Block.

3. The Executive Engineer, Building Division No. II, PWD, Government of Manipur, PWD Office Complex, Khuyathong, Imphal-795001.

4. Shri.Themerimung Zimik, aged about 37 years s/o Reisingha Zimik, Rifleman No. 405400 of 4th IRB, C/o Commandant, 4th India Reserve Battalion, Thenguchingjin, Imphal East district, Manipur at presently residing in Qtr. No. Type-III/B-7, Sanakeithel, Lamphelpat, Imphal West District, Manipur.

                                                  ........Respondents
                        B E F O R E
             HON'BLEMR. JUSTICE AHANTHEM BIMOL SINGH

          For the Petitioners         :   Mr. Ng. Kumar, Adv. & Mr.
                                          BR. Sharma, Adv.
          For the respondents         :   Mr. Shyam Sharma, G.A.
          Date of Hearing             :   13.06.2022.
          Date of Judgment &Order     :   05.07.2022.

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors.                                   Page 2
                            Judgment & Order
[1]    Heard Mr. Ng. Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner in

W.P.(C) No. 203 of 2022 and for respondents No. 4 & 5 in W.P.(C) No. 352 of

2021 and W.P.(C) No. 102 of 2022 respectively. Heard also Mr. BR. Sharma,

learned counsel appearing for the petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 and

W.P.(C) No. 102 of 2022 and respondent No. 4 in W.P.(C) No. 203 of 2022.

Heard also Mr. Shyam Sharma, learned Government Advocate appearing for

the State respondents in all the three writ petitions.

As the facts and issue involved in all the three writ petitions are

the same, the said three writ petitions were heard jointly and being disposed

of by this common judgment and order.

[2] The only issue involved in these three writ petitions is with regard to

who between the two writ petitioners is legally entitled to the allotment of

Government Quarter Type-III/B-7 at Lamphelpat.

For the sake of convenience, the petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 203 of

2022 is referred to as petitioner No. 1 and the petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 352 of

2021 and W.P.(C) No. 102 of 2022 is referred to as the petitioner No. 2.

[3] The brief fact of the present writ petitions is that both the petitioners are

employees of the Government of Manipur. Petitioner No. 1 is serving as

L.D.A. in the Court of District and Sessions Judge, Imphal East and petitioner

No. 2 is serving as Rifleman in the 4th IRB, Thenguchingjin, Imphal East.

By an order dated 02.01.2020 issued by the Additional Chief

Secretary (Works)-cum-Estates Officer, Government of Manipur, Government W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 3 Quarter Type-III/B-7 at Lamphelpat, which was earlier allotted to one MS.

Thangchinla, Senior Account Assistant, Imphal East Treasury, Porompat, was

cancelled and the said quarter was temporarily allotted to petitioner No. 1 with

the conditions, inter-alia, that the new allottee is required to furnish a

certificate from the concerned D.D.O. certifying that necessary house

rent/furniture rent shall be deducted from his salary and that the D.D.O.

should also certify his present place of posting, pay-scale and take

responsibility for information to the State Officer, Government of Manipur, as

and when the allotee is transferred out. In terms of the conditions stipulated in

the aforesaid allotment order, the D.D.O. of the petitioner No. 1 furnished the

required certificates/documents and thereafter the Under Secretary (Works),

Government of Manipur, wrote a letter dated 16.01.2022 requesting the

Executive Engineer, Building Division No. II, PWD, Manipur, to handover the

said allotted quarter to the petitioner No. 1.

[4] When the said Government quarter allotted to the petitioner No. 1 was

found to be occupied by unknown persons illegally without valid documents,

the Executive Engineer, Building Division No. II, PWD Manipur wrote a letter

dated 21.01.2020 to the Deputy Commissioner, Imphal West, stating, inter-

alia, that the previous allottee of the said quarter was not found during

inspection and had sublet the said quarter to the unknown person and

accordingly, a request was made to take an eviction proceedings of the

unknown persons of the said Government Quarter at the earliest so that the

new allottee can occupy the said quarter.

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors.                                    Page 4
 [5]    Instead of evicting the unauthorised occupants of the said Government

Quarter and handing it over to the petitioner No. 1, the Additional Chief

Secretary (Works)-cum-Estates Officer, Government of Manipur, issued an

order dated 04.12.2020 to the effect that the said quarter has been retained in

favour of the earlier allottee, i.e., MS. Thangchinla upto 31.12.2020 and after

which the said quarter was temporarily allotted to the petitioner No. 1 with

effect from 01.01.2021 subject to strict compliance of the conditions

mentioned in the said order.

[6] Quite surprisingly and without application of mind, the Additional Chief

Secretary (Works)-cum-Estates Officer, Government of Manipur, issued

another order dated 18.01.2021 allotting the said Government Quarter in

favour of the petitioner No. 2. The said order was not issued in supersession

of the earlier allotment order and nothing was also mentioned about

cancellation of the earlier allotment order issued in favour of the petitioner No.

1. Subsequently on realising the mistake committed by himself, the Additional

Chief Secretary (Works)-cum-Estates Officer, Government of Manipur, issued

another order dated 06.03.2021 thereby cancelling the allotment order issued

in favour of the petitioner No. 2 and thereafter re-allotting the said

Government Quarter in favour of the petitioner No. 1.

[7] Feeling aggrieved by issuance of the subsequent order dated

06.03.2021, the petitioner No. 2 challenged the said order by filing W.P.(C)

No. 352 of 2021 before this Court on the ground, inter-alia, that no notice or

opportunity of being heard was given to him prior to issuance of the impugned

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 5 order and that the State respondents have issued the said impugned order

without application of mind and without any reason solely with mala-fide

intention to allote the said quarter in favour of the petitioner No. 1.In the said

writ petition, this Court passed an ex-parte interim order on 17.04.2021

thereby staying the operation of the impugned order dated 16.03.2021.

During the pendency of the aforesaid writ petition, the

Commissioner (Works)-cum-Estates Officer, Government of Manipur, issued

another order dated 29.11.2021 allotting another similar Government Quarter

Type-III/G-82, LHC in favour of the petitioner No. 2. In view of the allotment of

another Government Quarter in favour of the petitioner No. 2, this Court

passed an order on 21.12.2021 in W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 vacating the

earlier interim order dated 17.04.2021. Having been not satisfied with the

allotment of another Government Quarter in his favour under the Government

order dated 29.11.2021, the petitioner No. 2 again filed another writ petition

being W.P.(C) No. 102 of 2022 with a prayer for quashing and setting aside

the subsequent allotment order dated 29.11.2021 issued in his favour,

however, no interim order was passed in the said writ petition.

[8] Even after vacation of the interim stay order dated 17.04.2021 passed

by this Court in W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021, the petitioner No. 2 refused to

vacate from the said Government Quarter Type-III/B-7 allotted to the

petitioner No. 1 and forcibly continued to occupy the said Quarter illegally and

without any authority. In view of the above, the petitioner No. 1, through his

counsel, approached the concerned authorities of the State Government by

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 6 filing an application dated 15.01.2022 requesting for handing over the said

quarter to the petitioner No. 1 at the earliest. When no tangible action was

taken up by the authorities and when the State Government failed to

handover the said Government Quarter to the petitioner No. 1, he approached

this Court by filing W.P.(C) No. 203 of 2022 with a prayer for directing the

State respondents to handover the said Government Quarter Type-III/B-7 at

Lamphelpat to the petitioner No. 1.

[9] Mr. Ng. Kumar, learned counsel for the petitioner No. 1 vehemently

submitted that even though the Government Quarter Type-III/B-7 at

Lamphelpat was allotted by the Government to the petitioner No. 1 on three

occasions under valid Government orders dated 02.01.2020, 04.12.2020 and

06.03.2021 and even after the interim stay order passed by this Court have

been vacated on 21.12.20221, the concerned authorities of the State

Government have failed to vacate the petitioner No. 2, who is an illegal

encroacher, from the said Government Quarter and failed to deliver vacant

possession of the said Government Quarter to the petitioner No. 1 despite the

petitioner fulfilling all the terms and conditions stipulated in the Government

allotment orders and despite there being no legal impediments. It has also

been submitted that the inaction or lack of empathy on the part of the State

respondents have caused tremendous mental and emotional hardship to the

petitioner No. 1 and his family members, including small children, for a fairly

long time, inasmuch as, they have been deprived of their right of living in a

quarter allotted by the Government legally and that they have been subjected

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 7 to unjust/arbitrary treatment by the State respondents in collusion with the

petitioner No. 2 thereby violating their fundamental rights guaranteed by

Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The learned counsel accordingly

submitted that the State respondents may be directed to evict the petitioner

No. 2 from his illegal occupation of the said Government Quarter allotted to

the petitioner No. 1 and to deliver vacant possession of the said quarter to the

petitioner No. 1 within a stipulated period.

[10] Mr. BR. Sharma, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner No. 2

submitted that the said Government Quarter Type-III/B-7 at Lamphelpat was

legally allotted to the petitioner No. 2 under the Government order dated

18.01.2021 and the petitioner No. 2 is still occupying the said Government

quarter and also paying house rent till today. It has also been submitted that

the allotment order issued in favour of the petitioner No. 2 had been cancelled

by the State respondents by issuing an order dated 06.03.2021 within a short

span of 45 days and allotted the said quarter to the petitioner No. 1 without

assigning any reason and without application of mind and despite the

authorities having knowledge that the petitioner No. 2 is still occupying the

said quarter.The learned counsel further submitted that the impugned

cancellation order dated 06.03.2021 had been issued in gross violation of the

well settled principles of natural justice without giving any notice and

opportunity of being heard with the mala-fide intention of allotting the said

quarter in favour of the petitioner No. 1 by flouting all the rules and

procedures of allotment of Government quarters in a very arbitrary manner

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 8 and in colourable exercise of power. The learned counsel accordingly

submitted that the impugned cancellation order dated 06.03.2021 is not

sustainable in the eyes of law and the same is liable to be quashed and set

aside.

[11] After careful consideration of the rival submissions of the learned

counsel appearing for the parties and after careful perusal of the records of

the present writ petitions, this Court is of the considered view that the said

Government Quarter Type-III/B-7 at Lamphelpat was already allotted to the

petitioner No. 1 under two Government orders dated 02.01.2020 and

04.12.2020. During the subsistence of the Government allotment order dated

04.12.2020, the Additional Chief Secretary (Works)-cum-Estates Officer

issued the order dated 18.01.2021 allotting again the said Government

quarter to the petitioner No. 2 without application of mind. On careful

examination of the said order dated 18.01.2021, it is found that the said order

was not issued in supersession of the earlier order dated 04.12.2020 and

nothing is mentioned in the said order about cancellation of the earlier order

dated 04.12.2020. Subsequently, on realising the mistake in issuing the order

dated 18.01.2021, the Additional Chief Secretary (Works)-cum-Estates Officer

issued another order dated 06.03.2021 thereby cancelling the order dated

18.01.2021 issued in favour of the petitioner No. 2 and re-allotting the said

Government quarter to the petitioner No. 1. In the considered opinion of this

Court, the authorities have rightly taken the steps in correcting their mistakes

by issuing the order dated 06.03.2021 and thereby reaffirming the allotment of

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 9 the said quarter in favour of the petitioner No. 1 and this Court did not find any

infirmity, irrationality or illegality in issuing the said order dated 06.03.2021. In

fact, the petitioner No. 2 was not entitled to the allotment of the said

Government Quarter by virtue of the order dated 18.01.2021, inasmuch as,

the said Government quarter had already been allotted to the petitioner No. 1

under the Government order dated 04.12.2020 and the subsequent order

dated 18.01.2021 had been issued without application of mind.

[12] As the Government have already allotted another similar Government

quarter to the petitioner No. 2 under the order dated 29.11.2021, the petitioner

No. 2 cannot have any grievances of not availing any Government Quarter for

his accommodation. The petitioner No. 2 has also failed to satisfy this Court

that he is entitled to occupy the Government quarter of his choice and not the

Government quarter allotted to him under the aforesaid order dated

29.11.2021. In the result, the petitioner No. 2 has failed to make out a case

and accordingly W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 and W.P.(C) No. 102 of 2022 filed

by the petitioner No. 2 is hereby dismissed as being devoid of merit and

W.P.(C) No. 203 of 2022 filed by the petitioner No. 1 is allowed by directing

the State respondents to evict the petitioner No. 2 from the Government

Quarter Type-III/B-7 at Lamphelpat and to deliver vacant possession of the

said Government Quarter to the petitioner No. 1 within a period of two weeks

from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment and order.

W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors. Page 10 With the aforesaid directions, all the three writ petitions are

disposed of. Parties are to bear their own costs. Registry is directed to return

the Government file to the concerned Government Advocate.

                                                            JUDGE


               FR/NFR
               Lhaineichong




W.P.(C) No. 352 of 2021 & 2 Ors.                                  Page 11