UNION OF INDIA & ANR versus OMKAR NATH DHAR (D) THROUGH L.RS.

Citation: [2021] 6 S.C.R. 1056 · Decided: 07-10-2021 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: HEMANT GUPTA · Disposal: Dismissed
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Judgment (excerpt)

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1056
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2021] 6 S.C.R.
[2021] 6 S.C.R. 1056
1056
UNION OF INDIA & ANR
v.
OMKAR NATH DHAR (D) THROUGH L.Rs.
(Miscellaneous Application No. 1468 of 2021)
In
(Civil Appeal No. 6619 of 2014)
OCTOBER 07, 2021
[HEMANT GUPTA AND A. S. BOPANNA, JJ.]
Government Accommodation – For retired Government
employees who are Kashmiri Migrants – Propriety – Held:
Government houses/flats are meant for serving Government
employees – There cannot be any justification on the basis of social
or economic criteria to allow the Kashmiri Migrants to stay in
Government accommodation for indefinite long period – To say
that they would return to the Valley when the situation will improve
is an open-ended statement capable of being interpreted in different
ways – The satisfaction of improvement of situation would be widely
different by the erstwhile Government employees and the State –
But in no case it can be countenanced that the former Government
employee, may be a Kashmiri Migrant, is entitled to stay in a
government accommodation for an indefinite period – Impugned
Office Memorandum allowing government accommodation to retired
Government employees who are Kashmiri Migrants cannot meet the
touchstone of Art.14 of the Constitution, and accordingly struck
down as being totally arbitrary and discriminatory.
Union of India v. Vijay Mam 2012 SCC OnLine Del
3218 – referred to.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Miscellaneous Application
No.1468 of 2021.
In
Civil Appeal No.6619 of 2014.
From the Judgment and Order dated 07.07.2011 of the High Court
of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in L.P.A. No.1128 of 2011(O&M)
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With
Miscellaneous Application No.1556 of 2021 In Civil Appeal
No.6619 of 2014 and Miscellaneous Application No.1573 of 2021
In
Civil Appeal No. 6619 of 2014
Ms. Madhvi Divan, ASG, Bimal Roy Jad, Sr. Adv., Ms. Riddhi
Jad, Ms. Shikha Dixit, Dr. Brij Bhushan K. Jauhari, Ms. Purnima Jauhari,
Shiv Sagar Tiwari, Ms. Aakansha Tiwari, Kishor Kumar Mishra, Aditya
Mishra, Ashutosh Bansal, Sanjay Sharma, Niranjan Moharana, Surya
Kant Jena, Ms. Preeti, Ms. Seema Bengani, Rajan Kumar Chourasia,
Ms. Vimla Sinha, Amrish Kumar, Yoginder Handoo, Ritesh Khatri, Advs.
for the Appearing Parties.
The Order of the Court was passed by
HEMANT GUPTA, J.
1. This order shall be read with in continuation of order dated
5.8.2021 and shall dispose of the three applications filed by the occupants
of the Government accommodation in Delhi and in National Capital
Region on the strength of an order passed by the Delhi High Court in a
judgment reported as Union of India v. Vijay Mam1, including an
application filed by the legal heir of the deceased respondent Omkar
Nath Dhar for recall of judgment of this Court passed on 5.8.2021.
2. In M.A. No. 1468 of 2021, recall is sought on the basis that the
respondent had died on 16.3.2020 and this Court had passed an order
without seeking substitution of the legal representatives of the deceased
respondent.
3. All these applications are filed by the applicants who are in
possession of government accommodation in Delhi and/or National Capital
Region in terms of policy framed by the Central Government on 28.3.2017
as modified on 19.5.2017.
4. In Vijay Mam, there was a direction that the Central
Government was to frame a rehabilitation scheme specifically for such
retired employees like the respondents herein, specifying the terms and
conditions on which such persons would be entitled to rehabilitate/alternate
residence, which may include the term that these respondents or family
members do not have any residence in any part of the country. The
1 2012 SCC On Line Del 3218
UNION OF INDIA v. OMKAR NATH DHAR (D) THROUGH L.Rs.
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2021] 6 S.C.R.
Office Memorandum is the policy circulated on 28.3.2017 in pursuance
of the directions of the High Court of Delhi. The relevant extract from
the Office Memorandum reads thus:
“
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject: Scheme for providing alternate accommodation etc. to
retired Central Govt. employees belonging to the State of Jammu
& Kashmir holding General Pool residential accommodation in
Delhi in terms of the direction of Hon’ble High Court of Delhi.
xx
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4.In view of direction of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, a scheme
has now been formulated by Ministry of Urban Development, in
consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs, for providing alternate
residence to retired Central Govt. employees belonging to State
of
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