(1.) By this common judgment we propose to dispose of eight letters Patent Appeals being L.P.A. No. 1272 of 1992 arising out of C.W.P. No. 3745 of 1984, L.P.A. No. 1273 of 1992 arising out of C.W.P. No. 4784 of 1981; L.P.A. No. 1274 of 1992 arising out of C.W.P. No. 3048 of 1984; L.P.A. No. 1275 of 1992 arising out of C.W.P. No. 701 of 1988; L.P.A. No. 1276 of 1992 arising out of C.W.P.No.12718 of 1989; L.P.A. No. 306 of 1993 arising out of C.W.P. No. 3744 of 1984; L.P.A. No. 367 of 1993 arising out of C.W.P. No. 13505 of 1989 and L.P.A. No. 371 of 1993 arising out of C.W.P. No. 3047 of 1984 as all these appeals involve same question of law and are based on somewhat similar facts.
(2.) The necessary facts extracted from the writ petitions are that Chandigarh Housing Board which is stated to be a statutory body had issued an advertisement on 5.11.1977 inviting applications for allotment of built up houses in the Union Territory, Chandigarh. It was stated in the advertisement that the applications were invited for different types of built up houses and 15.1.1978 was prescribed as the last date for submission of application forms. The advertisement provided that the persons who were demociles of Chandigarh for a period of at least three years prior to making the applications were eligible for this purpose. The scheme which was framed by the board has been annexed as Annexure P/1 to the writ petition. The scheme placed certain restrictions on the eligibility and classified the houses into low income group, middle income group and high income group. The applicants were required to deposit some initial amount varying from Rs. 500/- to Rs. 7500/-. The allotment was to be made by draw of lots. The scheme itself reserved quotas for various categories including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Defence Personnel, Ex-Servicemen, War Widows, Pensioners and Government employees who are due to be superannuated within a period of five years from the date of advertisement. It also provided discretionary quota for hard deserving cases. The draw of lots was held on 10.4.1980. Flats were given to various categories including the reserved classes. Further draw of lots was again held on 18.10.1980 and 4.9.1981.
(3.) The grievance raised by learned counsel for the appellants/writ petitioner on the above facts is that their registration with the Chandigarh Housing Board gave them an absolute right for getting a house on the old rates. He further submits that the respondent-Board is bound by the principle of promissory estoppel.