2 days ago
High Court Orders Subsidised Plots for Blue Star Shopkeepers
In 1984, many shopkeepers near the Golden Temple lost their shops during Operation Blue Star.
They waited for decades to receive replacement business spaces.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has now ordered the government to provide subsidised commercial sites.
The price will be Rs 1,000 per square yard.
This is the same rate used for people affected by a later beautification project.
The court said the government had promised similar help many times but did not deliver it.
Five people who were left out earlier must also be offered sites.
People who already paid the higher price will keep their allotments unchanged.
The government must finish the process within two months.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered subsidised commercial sites for 109 shopkeepers displaced during Operation Blue Star.
The allotment rate was fixed at Rs 1,000 per square yard, matching the 1988 Galiara Scheme.
The court said the state failed to rehabilitate affected traders despite repeated assurances since 1991.
Five eligible victims previously excluded because of unavailable sites must also receive alternatives at the same rate.
The allotment process, including sale deeds and possession, must be completed within two months.
- Who
- The Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Punjab government, and shopkeepers displaced during Operation Blue Star.
- What
- The court ordered alternate commercial sites at Rs 1,000 per square yard, with the concessions and subsidies provided under the Galiara Scheme.
- Where
- Around the Golden Temple Complex in Amritsar, Punjab.
- When
- The affected shopkeepers were displaced in 1984; the court issued the reported order on 7 September, after 42 years of delay.
- Why
- The court found that the shopkeepers had been forcibly displaced, denied timely rehabilitation, and treated unfairly compared with Galiara Scheme oustees.
Affected Shopkeepers and Court
Punjab Government
Appropriate allotment price
Affected Shopkeepers and Court
The shopkeepers and the court supported the Rs 1,000-per-square-yard rate used for Galiara Scheme oustees, saying comparable rehabilitation should be provided.
Punjab Government
The Punjab government argued that Rs 38,400 per square yard was lawful because it reflected the prevailing Collector rate for the alternative sites.
Government assurances
Affected Shopkeepers and Court
The court held that the state was bound by promises made in 1991 and 2006 to rehabilitate Blue Star oustees on the same lines as Galiara Scheme oustees.
Punjab Government
The state maintained that its later 2012 Cabinet decision requiring the higher rate should govern the allotments.
Fairness of treatment
Affected Shopkeepers and Court
The court found the higher demand unfair, discriminatory, and arbitrary because the 1984 shopkeepers were forcibly displaced and received worse treatment than those affected by planned beautification evictions.
Punjab Government
The government said it was ready to transfer the sites if the petitioners paid the market-aligned price.
Key facts
- Affected shopkeepers
- 109 shopkeepers were allotted alternate commercial sites.
- Allotment rate
- Rs 1,000 per square yard.
- Affected operation
- Operation Blue Star in 1984.
- Earlier government rate
- Rs 38,400 per square yard, approved by the Punjab Cabinet in 2012.
- Additional beneficiaries
- Five eligible victims excluded from earlier draws must receive alternative sites.
- Existing full-price allotments
- The 18 people who paid Rs 38,400 per square yard will not be disturbed.
- Completion deadline
- The allotment process, sale deeds, and possession must be completed within two months.
Quotes
Punjab and Haryana High Court division bench
The division bench of Justices Jasgurpreet Singh Puri and Pravindra Singh Chauhan hearing the rehabilitation cases
“obligatory upon the State to have acted promptly for rehabilitation of displaced persons, which the State has failed to do so”
theprint.in
“It was 42 years ago that the aforesaid incident took place”
theprint.in
Sources
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