Nearly 400 cases pertaining to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) are pending with the Board and also in various courts, including the high court and Supreme Court. These include residential and commercial cases, some of which are nearly 20 years old.

The pending legal cases pertain mainly to violations, double allotment, forging of documents and non-payment of allotment money. Of the total pending cases, as many as 18 are pending in the apex court.

According to CHB legal officers, the reason for such a large number of pending cases is that defaulters seek redressal through courts. “The percentage of defaulters who remove the violations after a notification by CHB is meagre. Well aware of the legal system that takes years to decide a case, the defaulters approach the judiciary after their appeals are declined by the CHB. They enjoy stay orders till the time the case is not decided by court,” said senior legal officer Payal Manchanda.

While legal officers were of the view that a stricter norm should be followed by the Board to avoid a delay in the decision of cases, the litigants, on the other hand, blamed the CHB for its failure in disposing of the complaints.

There are around ten commercial cases pertaining to the increase in the price of shop-cum-offices after the draw was conducted. Now, the allottees of the sites have appealed for relaxation of penal interest due to delay in payment.

Though there were proposals in the offing to demolish the violations after issuing notices to the defaulters, the CHB failed to implement the scheme. Also, the Lok Adalat organised by the Board in December last year to resolve the pending cases, did not receive an encouraging response from defaulters.