A housing dispute that has dragged on for more than 30 years has prompted the Supreme Court to bring in an independent mechanism to settle competing claims over flats in NOIDA.
The Court has appointed former Allahabad High Court Justice Sudhir Kumar Saxena to head a one-member committee tasked with identifying the genuine original allottees and subsequent purchasers entitled to multi-storeyed flats linked to the Kendriya Karamchari Sehkari GN Samiti.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana passed the order on September 24, noting that repeated attempts to complete the verification exercise had failed to resolve the dispute.
The Bench observed that the process had remained inconclusive despite several affidavits and earlier directions, while many original members had been waiting for the outcome of the litigation for over three decades.
The dispute has its roots in the Society’s prolonged legal battle with the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA).
In 2022, the Supreme Court directed NOIDA to allot multi-storeyed flats to 844 identified members of the Society. The Court had also ordered that the claims of 133 subsequent purchasers be examined.
The numbers later became a point of contention. NOIDA and the Society submitted differing figures, with subsequent proceedings referring to as many as 863 original allottees and 120 subsequent purchasers.
NOIDA opposed the inclusion of subsequent purchasers, relying on the original allotment conditions that restricted transfers without prior approval. It also pointed out that the original allotments had been cancelled in 1998.
The Society, on the other hand, maintained that NOIDA had not acted on requests seeking permission for transfers. It also argued that refund cheques issued in the dispute had never been encashed.
With the disagreement continuing years after the Supreme Court’s earlier directions, the Bench decided that an independent verification process was necessary.
Justice Saxena has been given the authority to frame the procedure he considers appropriate, call for relevant documents and hear the concerned members and claimants before finalising the list.
NOIDA, the Society and all claimants have been directed to fully cooperate with the committee.
The Supreme Court has set an eight-week deadline for submission of the committee’s report and directed NOIDA to provide the necessary secretarial and logistical support.
The matter is scheduled to come up before the Supreme Court again on December 2.