SC notice to UT on Haryana Info chief’s eviction

A single Bench,on March 10,had stayed the eviction of the information commissioner from the government accommodation. This stay,granted by the Single Bench,was lifted by the division bench in a hearing last month.

Aggrieved,Asha Sharma moved the Apex Court which has issued notices to the Administration and listed the case for final arguments next week.

The case had initially reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court after Asha Sharma had moved the court,seeking directions to the Union Territory Administration to regularise allotment of the house in Sector 5,Chandigarh.

Asha Sharma had contended that on September 6,1996,the UT Administration had decided to regularise government houses.

She had retired from the Haryana government in 2007 and on December 31,2007,she was posted as State Information Commissioner,Haryana.

In January 2008,she was asked to vacate the house by the UT Administration.

Aggrieved by this,Sharma had moved the court demanding stay over dispossession and regularisation of the house.

Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia took a strong note of issues of the ‘discrimination’ alleged by the petitioner at the time of allotting government houses. On December 15,2010,Justice Ahluwalia had stayed the allotment of any government house “pertaining to type III (old); IV and V (old); VI (old and new) and VII (old)”.

The stay was finally lifted in the month of March this year by Justice Surya Kant.

Though vacated,the Court had imposed certain conditions on the allotment of government houses to be made by the Chandigarh Administration.

The Court had also directed the Administration to allot a house to Asha Sharma according to her entitlement.

Two weeks’ time was given to the Union Territory Administration for allotting her a house to live in after she vacates the house she is currently residing in.

The Chandigarh Administration had moved the High Court in appeal against the order of the Single Bench.

The Administration had alleged that Asha Sharma was not entitled to retain the house in question on the ground that she had been employed again as the information commissioner of Haryana.

“She would have to apply fresh and then join the queue.

After her retirement in 2007 as Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer,she is not eligible to retain the house,” the appeal filed by the Union Territory Administration read.

Taking stock of the contentions raised,a division bench of the High Court had lifted the stay over the eviction of Asha Sharma.

Challenging the order passed by the division bench last month,Asha Sharma has now moved the Supreme Court demanding a stay over her eviction.

It might be mentioned here that Asha Sharma has filed the appeal only with regard to stay lifted over her eviction by the High Court.

The Apex Court issued notices to the Administration and listed the matter for final hearing next week.