By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday said that the upfront amount for EWS flats under the rehabilitation scheme for eligible applicants of Faridabad’s Khori village, where unauthorised structures which came under the Aravali forest area were removed, would be collected only upon issuance of the final allotment letter.
The apex court, which was hearing the matter about Khori village, was informed by one of the petitioners that they have received letters from the authority that they will have to make the upfront payment of Rs 17,000 for provisional allotment of the EWS (Economically Weaker Section) flats.
The counsel representing the Faridabad municipal corporation told a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari that it appeared that some letters containing the clause for making payment have been issued inadvertently and those would be recalled forthwith.
“The upfront amount would be collected from the concerned allottees only upon issue of final allotment letter after the draw of the lot as per the latest scheme,” the bench noted in its order.
Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the petitioner, said the top court had earlier observed that the question of payment would arise after the final allotment is made after the draw of lots.
Parikh said the other issue is regarding payment of solatium of Rs 2,000 per month for six months to the eligible applicants who are not being given provisional accommodation.
On the issue of solatium, senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj, appearing for the civic body, said the grievance would be looked into and corrective steps would be taken, if there is any case of non-payment subject to verification.
Bhardwaj told the bench that petitioners can communicate with him on the issues before filing applications in the court so that he could advise the civic body to take appropriate steps if needed.
The bench appreciated the stand taken by him and said in the future, the petitioners should intimate the counsel representing the corporation about the issue in respect of which redressal is being sought.
The court said if the issue stands unresolved for more than two weeks from the date of intimation, it would be open to the petitioners to apply in that regard before the court.
The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on November 13.
It also dealt with the matter relating to the forest land issue in which the Haryana government has filed an affidavit on Thursday.
The bench said it would hear arguments in the matter on November 15.
On October 8, the top court had said that the Aadhaar card would be one of the documents to be taken into account by the municipal corporation for making provisional allotment under the rehabilitation scheme to eligible applicants.
As an interim arrangement, the apex court had directed the civic body to process the applications if it is accompanied by an Aadhaar card to make provisional allotment subject to verification of the applicant.
The bench had made clear that provisional allotment of EWS flats would not create any right in favour of the person until he establishes his eligibility as mandated under the rehabilitation scheme.
In a status report filed earlier in the top court, the municipal corporation had given details including that of the modified timeline for the process of allotment under the rehabilitation scheme to eligible applicants of Khori ‘jhuggis’.
It had said a total of 2,583 applications have been received till September 29 and 360 applicants have taken temporary possession of flats till September 30.
The report had said as per the apex court’s direction, the timeline for rehabilitation has been modified and the last date of submission of application is now November 15 and final allotment letters would be issued on December 15.
The corporation had said it has also accepted the suggestion to reduce the initial payment for the flat from Rs 17,000 to Rs 10,000 and further increased the period of repayment from 15 to 20 years.
The civic body had last month told the apex court that they will be making a payment of rent/solatium of Rs 2,000 per month to the eligible applicants from November 1 for six months or actual physical possession of flats, whichever is earlier.
On June 7, the top court had directed Haryana and Faridabad municipal corporation to remove “all encroachments,” consisting of around 10,000 residential constructions, in the Aravali forest area near the village, saying “land grabbers cannot take refuge of rule of law” and talk of “fairness”.
