C V PARMAR Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the petitioners have prayed for a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ order or direction striking down Clause 2.3 d(2) of the Schedule of the Govt. Resolution dated 29.6.1989 at Annex.A by declaring it as discriminative and affecting Article 14 of the Constitution of India and further directing the respondents to extend the benefits of the said resolution to the petitioners who are also Govt. employees serving at Gandhinagar.

(2.) The short facts leading to this petition are that all the petitioners are government employees serving in different departments of the government at Gandhinagar in different capacities. It is submitted that the State of Gujarat decided to allot housing plots at Gandhinagar to the Government employees serving at Gandhinagar by its resolution dated 29.6.1998 at Annex. A at concessional rates on certain terms and conditions prescribed in the Schedule-II of the said resolution. One of the conditions of the said Schedule viz. Clause 2.3(d)(2) provides that the government employees not owning/possessing plot of land house/Rat either in his name or in the name of husband/wife or dependents at Gandhinagar would be entitled to the allotment of government plots under the said resolution at Annex. A. It is submitted that the petitioners are serving at Gandhinagar since the establishment of Gandhinagar capital of Gujarat. It is submitted that at that time no sufficient government quarters were available for the government employees at Gandhinagar. However Gujarat Housing Board had constructed some flats/tenements at Gandhinagar and offered the same on hire-purchase basis to the government employees As the petitioners were not provided at that time government quarters they occupied Gujarat Housing Board (GHB for short) flats/tenements on hire-purchase basis. It is submitted that GHB flats/tenements occupied by the petitioners were very small having inadequate facilities with two rooms & kitchen. Further it is submitted that initially the government adopted policy that government employees who are having their own houses within the area of 8 kms. from Gandhinagar and own houses in Ahmedabad city were not entitled to the government plots at Gandhinagar at concessional rates. It is submitted that with a view to get benefit of having government plot at Gandhinagar at consessional rate some government employees who were having their own houses in Ahmedabad filed false affidavits stating that they are not having any house at Ahmedabad and got government plots. It is further submitted that as soon as that fact was brought to the notice of the government the government was put in an embarrassing situation and therefore subsequently the government altered the policy to the extent that the employees owning houses at Ahmedabad would be eligible to occupy government plot at Gandhinagar and accordingly they were alloted government plots at Gandhinagar by regularising their cases on certain terms and conditions. But the condition regarding employees who have occupied/purchased houses at Gandhinagar remained unaltered. Thus the petition. could not get government plots at concessional rates along with their colleagues. Hence this petition.

(3.) It is to be noted here that though this petition was admitted and Rule was issued in the year 1990 and the respondents were served with the copy thereof in the year 1990 no affidavit-in-reply was filed on behalf of the respondents objecting this petition but the Court insisted to the government for filing affidavit-in-reply even at the time of final hearing and therefore respondents submitted their affidavit-in-reply on 6.12.1993 which is kept on record.