SHAM SINGH Vs. CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment disposes of CWP No. 7987 of 1990 and the connected Writ Petition Nos. 2462 of 1987, 918, 919, 3841, 4099, 4393, 4689, 5210, 5020, 5488, 5559, 6562, 6570, 6823, 7241, 7954, 7780, 9355 of 1988, 441 of 1989, 1804, 2590, 2863, 2907, 3650, 8198, 10387 and 14573 of 1990. In all these writ petitions, the principal challenge is to the validity of the order issued by the Chandigarh Administration on January 30, 1989.

(2.) REFERENCE to relevant facts, for resolving the dispute, has been made from the pleadings in CWP No. 7987 of 1990.

(3.) THE validity of this decision has been challenged in the writ petition. Out of turn allotment from the general pool accommodation to the relation of a retired government employee was permitted if the said relation satisfied the following conditions, namely, (i) he/she is a government servant eligible for allotment of accommodation from the general pool; (ii) had been continuously residing with the retired government servant after joining government service for at least three years preceding the date of retirement of the government servant; (iii) in case he/she is appointed to government service within a period of three years preceding the date of retirement or had been transferred to the place of posting of the retiring government servant any time within preceding three years; (iv) the government servant must have retired on or after February 28, 1989; (v) if a government employee retires before February 28, 1989 and after June, 1987, he/she must be residing with him/her continuously for six months. This concession was, however, not available in the case where the retireing employee or any member of his/her family owns a house at Chandigarh or in any of the neighbouring estates of S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) or Panchkula. The decision places the retiring government employee into two categories, namely those who retired after June 9, 1987 but before February 28, 1989; their relations would be entitled to out of turn allotment if they had been residing with the Government servant continuously for a period of six months from the date of retirement, in other cases, where the government employees retires on or after February 28, 1989 his/her relation will be entitled to out of turn allotment if they fall within the specific category and had been residing with the government employee continuously for a period of three years prior to the date of retirement. I sent for the departmental file to find out on what basis the two sets of government employees retiring on or after February 28, 1989 and before February 28, 1989 and after June 9, 1987 have been put into two categories. Notice was issued to the Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration to appear in person but he did not appear and instead deputed Secretary, House Allotment Committee to appear before this Court in response to the notice and that officer did not produce any record. He could not state on what basis the retireing government servants were compartment Genoalised. The respondent could not produce any date before this Court on the basis of which the retiring government servants were placed in two different categories. The purpose of making out of turn allotment to the relation of a retiring government employee is to enable the latter to continue to reside in the official accommodation in his possession even after retirement. In other words not to make the retiring government employee shelterless. In the order dated April 3, 1974 the residential accommodation allotted to a retired government employee was to be regularised in the name of the relation of the retiring government employee provided the relation in whose name the accommodation was to be allotted has been residing continuously for a period of six months with the retiring government employee. The policy to allot out of turn residential government accommodation to the relation of the retiring government servant was in existence till 1987 when a decision was taken to rescind the existing policy decision. The action of the Chandigarh Administration was challenged in this Court in a number of writ petitions. Thereafter the impinged policy decision was taken. The object of the policy decision is to benefit the retiring government employees. There appears to be no rationale or justification for laying down that in case of a government employee who retired before February 28, 1989 and after June 9, 1987, his/her eligible dependent as the case may be should have been continuously residing with the Government employee for a period of six months prior to his/her retirement and in the case of government employee who retired on or after February 28, 1989 his/her dependent relation who is otherwise eligible for allotment of accommodation must have been residing with him/her after having been appointed in service for a period of three years preceding the date of retirement. The chosen date of application of the policy decision has no nexus with the object sought to be achieved. The categorisation of the retiring government employees those who retired on or after February 28, 1989 and those who retired before that date is wholly artificial and arbitrary. There is no logic or justification for classifying the retiring government employees into two different categories. In D.S. Nakara and others v. Union of India, 1983 (2)SLR 246 (SC), the pensioners for the purpose of computation of pension were placed into two categories and dispute arose as under : - "On May 25, 1979, Government of India, Ministry of Finance, issued Office Memorandum No F-19(3)-EV-79 whereby the computation of pension was liberalised but made it applicable to Government servants who were in service on March 31, 1979 and retired from service on or after that date. The formula introduced a slab system for computation of pension. This liberalised pension formula was applicable to employees governed by the 1972 Rules retiring on or after the specified date. The pension for the service personnel which will include Army, Navy and Air Force staff is governed by the relevant regulations. By memorandum dated September 28, 1979, the liberalised pension formula introduced for the government servant governed by the 1972 rules was extended to the Armed Forces personnel subject to limitation set out in the memorandum with a condition that the new Rules of pension would be effective from April 1, 1979, and may be applicable to all service officers who become/became non-effective on or after the date. The liberalised pension formula was made applicable prospectively to those who retired on or after March 21, 1979 in case of Government servants covered by 1972 rules and in respect of defence personnel those who became/become non effective on or after April 1, 1979. Consequently those who retired prior to the specified date would not be entitled to the benefits of the liberalised pension formula. This classification was challenged on the ground that it was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The contention raised was "The basic contention as herein before noticed is that the pensioners for the purpose of receiving pension form a class and there is no criterion on which classification of pensioners retireing prior to specified date and retiring subsequent to that date can provide a rational principle co-related to the object viz, object underlying payment of pension," and it was answered thus : -