SARASWATI DATTA Vs. DDA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) It has been said that "The sum of all human wisdom is contained in these two words: Wait and Hope." The petitioner herein is one such person who has been waiting patiently for thirty long years of her life in the fond hope that one day the respondent/DDA will help realise her dream of owning her own home in the capital of the Country, only to be cryptically informed at the end of the long wait that her dream was only a mirage and that the flat allotted to her in the year 1990, and for which she had paid the entire demanded amount, had been allotted by DDA to a third party behind her back and without even an intimation issued to her in this regard. The facts of the case are uncomplicated. On 04.01.1980, the petitioner had got herself registered with the respondent/DDA under the SFS Scheme for allotment of a category III flat. On 13.11.1990, a draw of lots was held by the respondent/DDA under the said Scheme. The petitioner was declared successful in the said draw of lots and was allotted a flat by the respondent/DDA in terms of the letter bearing block dates 26.01.1990-30.11.1990. The estimated cost of flat allotted to the petitioner on the first and second floor in Block C, Pocket 9, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi was '4,77,200/-. The petitioner was required to make the payment of 90% of the estimated cost of the flat in four installments starting from 04.10.1990 and ending on 04.04.1992. It is an admitted case of the parties that 90% of the estimated cost of the flat was duly deposited by the petitioner well within the time granted by the respondent/DDA. Thereafter, the petitioner kept representing to the respondent/DDA from the year 1992 to the year 1999, for issuance of a demand-cum-allotment letter to her, but all her requests fell on deaf ears.

(2.) Finally, on the basis of draw of lots that was held on 15.05.1998, the petitioner was issued a final demand-cum-allotment letter dated 27.09.1999 by the respondent/DDA wherein, her statement of account was duly reflected and she was called upon to pay the balance sum of '637157/- on or before 24.01.2000 for the allotment of flat bearing No.8203, category II/III on the F/f, in block B-11 at Vasant Kunj. The petitioner proceeded to deposit the aforesaid amount on 14.10.1999 which was also well before the cut-off date. Thereafter, the petitioner waited patiently in the hope of receiving a possession letter in respect of the flat that had been allotted to her. However, for the next seven years, the respondent/DDA went into hibernation. On 19.06.2006, the respondent/DDA woke up from its deep slumber and wrote to the petitioner calling upon her to submit the original fourth copies of the challans dated 30.12.1990 and 04.10.1991, so that further action could be taken in her case. Immediately upon receipt of the aforesaid letter, the petitioner replied on 06.07.2006 enclosing the original copies of the challans and requesting the respondent/DDA to process her case expeditiously. On 01.09.2006, the respondent/DDA again wrote a letter to the petitioner calling upon her to submit an indemnity bond duly discharged for the loss of the FDR submitted by her to the Department which was also complied with by her. The petitioner was also called upon to submit the original copy of the challan of '15,000/- which she did.

(3.) Thereafter, the respondent/DDA wrote a letter dated 23.11.2006 to the petitioner and called upon her to submit the conveyance deed papers duly stamped by the office of the Collector of Stamps with a copy of her PAN number or a declaration form for taking further action. The petitioner promptly responded to the aforesaid letter by submitting an application, that was received in the office of the respondent/DDA on 04.12.2006, wherein it was stated that all the requisite formalities had been completed by her except for submitting the conveyance deed and that she was informed by the Collector of Stamps as also by the Housing Department of the respondent/DDA that a signed copy of the duly filled up conveyance deed paper alongwith a covering letter from the competent officer in DDA would be required to enable the Collector of Stamps to accept the stamp duty and stamp the conveyance deed. But the petitioner did not get any response from the respondent/DDA. For the next four years, the petitioner kept on making representations to the respondent/DDA right up to August, 2010 requesting that she be handed over the signed copy of the duly filled up conveyance deed but all her pleas fell on deaf ears. Finally, when the petitioner?s patience started wearing thin, she filed the present petition on 01.11.2010, praying inter alia for issuance of a writ of mandamus to the respondent/DDA to hand over possession of the flat that was allotted to her or to allot a flat that was similar to the one that had been allotted to her at Vasant Kunj and further, to direct the respondent/DDA to pay her damages to the tune of '60,00,000/- on account of depriving her of the use and enjoyment of the flat allotted to her and causing her mental harassment.