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Union of India v. Onkar Nath Dhar

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 382Decided 5 Aug 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6619 of 2014
Justice Hemant Gupta · Justice A.S. Bopanna

Background

The respondent, a Kashmiri migrant who had worked for the Intelligence Bureau, was allotted government accommodation in Faridabad and retired from service in 2006. Citing the unsettled situation in Jammu & Kashmir, he sought to keep occupying the government house indefinitely at a nominal licence fee, well beyond his permitted retention period, and resisted eviction proceedings brought against him under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act. Both the Punjab & Haryana High Court's single judge and division bench ruled in his favour, relying on an earlier Supreme Court order (J.L. Koul) and reasoning that his right to shelter as a displaced person outweighed the government's claim to the property.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the government's appeal and set aside the High Court's orders, holding that there is no general right for retired government employees, even those displaced by terrorism, to continue occupying government housing meant for serving officials. It clarified that the earlier J.L. Koul order was a one-off direction under Article 142 (the Court's special power to do complete justice) tied to a specific state rehabilitation scheme, and is not binding legal precedent for other cases. The Court held that the right to shelter under Article 21 does not translate into a right to government accommodation, especially for a retired officer who had already received 15 years of post-retirement housing along with his pension; the correct remedy for displaced persons is transit accommodation or cash compensation under government policy, not indefinite retention of official housing at the expense of serving employees. The respondent was given until 31 October 2021 to vacate, and the government was directed to report on action taken against other similarly placed retirees still occupying government housing.

Lesson Learnt

Government accommodation is meant for serving employees, not retirees, even a sympathetic personal situation, such as displacement due to terrorism, does not create an indefinite legal right to retain official housing once a person has retired and already received retirement benefits.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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