Kashmiri migrants retd from govt job not entitled to retain govt house for more than 3 yrs: SC

The Supreme Court said that a retired government employee who is a Kashmiri migrant would not be entitled to retain government accommodation for a period exceeding three years.

A Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice AS Bopanna said that the Office Memorandum allowing the retired government employees who are Kashmiri migrants to retain government accommodation for an indefinitely long period is “unconstitutional” for being totally arbitrary and discriminatory.

The Court was deciding the case of where some Kashmiri migrants had occupied 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 Mam, pursuant to which a rehabilitation scheme was framed by the Central Government on 28.3.2017 as modified on 19.5.2017.

In the order, the Court did not decide any question of law or fact but merely expressed a compassionate view to alleviate the difficulties being faced by Kashmiri migrants. The Rehabilitation Package approved by this Court itself contemplated that transit accommodations were being constructed at three sites but if such transit accommodation was not available, Rupees One Lakh per family towards rental and incidental expenses would be given to those who may not be accommodated in transit accommodation. It was observed that the right to shelter does not mean the right to government accommodation. The government accommodation is meant for serving officers and officials and not to the retirees as benevolence and distribution of largesse.

Thus, we find that the orders passed by the High Court are absolutely without any basis and in the absence of any policy of allotment of government accommodation to a retired government servant, who may be the victim of terrorism. The orders passed are wholly arbitrary and irrational,” the apex court had earlier stated.The Court further held that the three-years period can also be considered as cooling off period for the officers who were in active intelligence work so that they can resume normal life but the excuse of once working for intelligence agency is not a valid ground to occupy the Government accommodation for indefinite period.