By IANS,
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has come down heavily on the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for not refunding a booking amount of Rs.50,000 for five years to a woman whose husband was “erroneously” declared successful in the draw of lots in 2004.
Upholding an earlier order of the court, the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the woman be compensated for the the inconvenience caused by the civic agency.
“Inaction by a statutory authority (DDA), specifically in a case of this nature, is inconceivable. The mistake with regard to allotment (of flats) may be a genuine one but definitely non-refund of the amount cannot be regarded as a sanguine act,” Justice Misra said.
The court asked DDA to pay Rs.1.5 lakh, including Rs.1 lakh as compensation, within four weeks to the widow of Narain Das Arora who had filed a petition against the agency.
Arora had applied for a two-bedroom flat in 2004 and deposited a demand draft of Rs.50,000 as the booking amount.
In the draw of lots, Arora found he had been allotted a flat.
Later, the DDA clarified that there was a mistake and that the flat, in fact, had been allotted to someone else.
The high court accepted DDA’s explanation, but took strong note of non-payment of the booking amount.
Arora died during the protracted court battle.