Supreme Court: Kashmiri migrants can't retain govt accommodation for more than 3 years after retirement
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There cannot be any justification on the basis of social or economic criteria to allow them to stay in government accommodation for an indefinitely long period, the Supreme Court observed.
A Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice AS Bopanna said the Office Memorandum allowing the retired government employees, who were Kashmiri migrants, to retain government accommodation for an indefinitely long period was "unconstitutional" for being totally arbitrary and discriminatory.
"We find it reasonable if Kashmiri migrants are allowed government accommodation for a period of three years from the date of retirement so as to make alternative arrangements within such period. If the alternative accommodation is not available for them at their instance, they are at liberty to move to the transit accommodation or to avail cash amount in lieu of transit accommodation. Thus, a government employee who is a Kashmiri migrant would not be entitled to retain government accommodation for a period exceeding three years, maybe in Delhi or in the NCR or for that matter anywhere in the country," the Bench stated in its order.
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It said that government accommodation was meant for serving officers and could not be taken as recourse to stay in such accommodation for the lifetime of the government servants or his/her spouse.
The order read, "The compassion shown to Kashmiri migrants has to be balanced with the expectations of the serving officers to discharge their duties effectively... We find that the Office Memorandum allowing government accommodation to the retired government employees who are Kashmiri migrants cannot meet the touchstone of Article 14 of the Constitution of India."
"The government houses/flats are meant for serving government employees. Post-retirement, the government employees, including Kashmiri migrants, are granted pensioner benefits, including monthly pension," says the order.
"The classification made in favour of government employees, who were Kashmiri migrants, stands on the same footing as that of other government employees or public figures. There cannot be any justification on the basis of social or economic criteria to allow the Kashmiri migrants to stay in government accommodation for an indefinitely long period," the order further stated.
-PTC News
