‘Exorbitantly priced homes beyond middle class: HC

Chandigarh: Raising serious concerns over soaring prices of residential plots and flats being auctioned by govt development agencies in the Tricity of Chandigarh, Panchkula, and Mohali, the Punjab and Haryana high court has held that such rates have placed home ownership beyond the reach of middle class and salaried professionals. The HC has directed states of Haryana, Punjab and UT Chandigarh to put forth a proposal to address the issue of affordable housing by taking other measures, including draw of lots, for all sections of society, including the salaried/middle class.
"It appears that states have started indulging in profiteering, leaving the common man in a lurch. Prices of residential plots and flats which are being auctioned are exorbitant," the HC has observed.Taking cognisance of the issue, the division bench headed by Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal also observed that the govt instrumentalities are cash rich and have plenty of reserves in their kitty, but instead of utilising them to provide affordable housing to the every day citizen and middle class, they are putting residential plots and flats to auction. It was pointed out that in such auctions, minimum bid amounts run into crores, which is beyond the range of the middle class.Justice Grewal held that Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and liberty includes the right to shelter and affordable housing. It is the bounden duty of the states to provide affordable housing."It has come to our notice that the prices at which residential plots or flats are being auctioned by the HSVP/Gmada/Chandigarh Housing Board in the Tricity of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali are out of reach of professional, salaried class, and other not so affluent sections of society, including the middle class. Although, these government instrumentalities initially had various schemes for allotment of plots including by way of draw of lots but now have opted to auction the residential plots deviating themselves from the real object of their statute," the bench held.In its detailed order, the bench also observed that earlier there used to be a restriction that only one person in a family was eligible for allotment of residential plot/flat. The restriction appears to have been done away with and we have come across several instances where one single person has applied and has been allotted multiple residential plot(s)/flat(s) in the auction.Adjourning the matter for March 24 for further hearing, the bench also appointed Shreenath A. Khemka, advocate, who was present in Court, as amicus curiae.'Duty of state to assure affordable housing'Govt agencies indulging in profiteering: Court noted that development bodies in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali are auctioning residential plots/flats at "exorbitant" rates, placing home ownership beyond the reach of middle-class and salaried citizens Auctions replacing welfare-driven schemes: Bench observed that agencies such as HSVP, GMADA and Chandigarh Housing Board have shifted from earlier draw-of-lots schemes meant for the common man to high-value auctions Minimum bids running into crores: The court recorded that reserve prices in these auctions often run into crores, making them inaccessible to the middle class and other not-so-affluent sections Article 21 includes right to shelter: Justice Grewal held that the constitutional right to life includes the right to affordable housing, and the state has a duty to ensure this