A. VENUGOPAL versus TELANGANA HOUSING BOARD & ANR.
[2022] 4 S.C.R. 1056, Supreme Court of India, 2022
Outcome: Appeal(s) allowed (Granted)
Segment: Ratio
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2022] 4 S.C.R.
[2022] 4 S.C.R. 1056
1056
A. VENUGOPAL
v.
TELANGANA HOUSING BOARD & ANR.
(Civil Appeal No. 2703 of 2022)
APRIL 4, 2022
[HEMANT GUPTA AND V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN, JJ.]
Telangana Housing Board Act, 1956 – Allotment of House –
Rental basis – Discrepancy in Name – Appellant’s grandfather was
allotted a house by the then Andhra Pradesh Housing Board in
1968 on rental basis – After his death, father of appellant gave a
representation seeking transfer of the allotment in his name – At the
time when the allotment was transferred, a small discrepancy
happened that his father wrote his grandfather’s name – After his
father’s death, the appellant applied for the transfer of the house
in his name – It was rejected, on account of the discrepancies in the
name of the appellant’s grandfather – Writ petition – The Single
Judge while allowing the writ petition found that after having entered
into a hire purchase agreement with the appellant’s father way back
in October, 1978 and after having received all the instalments due
from him fully, it was not proper on the part of the Housing Board
to take advantage of the illiteracy of the father and grandfather of
the appellant – The Division Bench reversed the judgment on the
ground that the discrepancy was sufficient justification for the
Housing Board to conclude that a fraud was being played upon
them – On appeal, held: Right from the year 1968, the house was in
the possession and enjoyment
of the appellant’s family – In the year
1968, there was a discrepancy regarding the initial in name – After
his grandfather’s death in 1969, the Housing Board accepted
appellant’s father as his son and entered into a tenancy agreement
– Appellant’s father completed all his obligations under the lease-
cum-sale agreement and also died in 1992 – No dispute was raised
by the Housing Board for a more than 2 decades – Therefore, to
take advantage of the discrepancies with which the Housing Board
and the original allottee and his legal heirs having co-existed for 5
decades, is completely unfair – Unfortunately, the Division Bench
treated even a man who was dead 30 years ago as having
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perpetrated fraud, by a skewed logic – The judgment of the Division
Bench is set aside and the judgment of the Single Judge of the High
Court is restored.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No.2703 of
2022.
From the Judgment and Order dated 07.08.2019 of the High Court
for State of Telangana in Writ Appeal No.654 of 2019.
G. Sivabalamurugan, Selvaraj Mahendran, P. Shankar, Advs. for
the Appellant.
V. Sridhar Reddy, Abhijit Sengupta, Advs. for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN
Leave granted.
2. Aggrieved by the judgment of the Division Bench of the High
Court for the State of Telangana, reversing the judgment of the learned
Single Judge and thereby rejecting his prayer for the transfer and
registration of a house allotted by the first respondent herein in favour of
his grandfather, the original writ petitioner has come up with the above
appeal.
3. The appellant herein filed a writ petition contending inter alia
(i) that his grandfather by name A. Venkaiah @ Hanumaiah, S/o Balaiah
was allotted a house by the then Andhra Pradesh Housing Board on
17.05.1968, on rental basis; (ii) that his grandfather died on 16.09.1969,
leaving behind him surviving, his father A. Shankaraiah; (iii) that his
father Shankaraiah gave a representation on 16.12.1969 seeking transfer
of the allotment in his name; (iv) that after demanding certain certificates
from his father, the Housing Board transferred the allotment in favour
of
his father by the proceeding dated 14.04.1970; (v) that at the time when
the allotment was transferred, a small discrepancy happened when his
father wrote his grandfather’s name; (vi) that in October, 1977 the
Housing Board offered the house for outright sale or hire purchase; (vii)
that his father opted for hire purchase; (viii) that thereafter his father
started paying the EMI regularly; (ix) that all the instalments payable by
his father, were duly and promptly paid and the entire payment schedule
was completed by March, 1992; (x) that unfortunately his father died on
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20.04.1992; (xi) that thereafter the appellant applied for the transfer of
the house in his name, but a dispute arose between the appellant and his
sisters; (xii) that the suit for partition filed by his sisters in O.S. No.4359
of 2004 was eventually settled before the Lok Adalat on 25.06.2014;
(xiii) that as per the Lok Adalat award, the appellant paid money to his
sisters, as the house site was just 120 sq. yards and was incapable of
being divided into six shares; (xiv) that in view of the settlement, his
sisters gave ‘No Objection’ for the registration of the house in favour of
the appellant, on 16.07.2016; (xv) that when the appellant applied along
with those documents for the transfer of the house in his name, it was
rejected by Order dated 3.12.2014, on account of the discrepancies in
the name of the appellant’s grandfather; (xvi) that though the appellant
signed an affidavit before the Metropolitan Magistrate on 6.07.2015 and
got it attested, the second respondent again rejected the request of the
appellant by subsequent orders dated 18.05.2017 and 31.05.2018; and
(xvii) that, therefore, he was constrained to file the writ petition.
4. The writ petition was contested by the respondents on the ground
inter alia (i) that the name mentioned by the original applicant in the
application dated 17.05.1968 was M. Venkaiah @ Balaiah; (ii) that in
the rental agreement executed by him, he had written his initial as “A”
in
one place and as “M” at another place; (iii) that after the demise of the
original allottee, a representation dated 16.12.1969 was received from
A. Shankaraiah, claiming to be the son and only legal heir of the original
allottee; (iv) that, however, the claimant A. Shankaraiah gave his father’s
name as A. Yenkaiah; (v) that the death certificate accompanying the
application was that of A. Venkaiah; (vi) that believing his representation
to be true, the Housing Board transferred the tenancy in favour of A.
Shankaraiah by proceedings dated 14.04.1970; (vii) that the tenancy
was later converted into hire purchase and a lease-cum-sale agreement
was entered into in October, 1978; (viii) that while entering into the
rental agreement, A. Shankaraiah gave his father’s name as A. Yenkaiah,
but while executing the lease-cum-sale agreement he gave his father’s
name as Venkaiah; (ix) that when the appellant applied as the son of A.
Shankaraiah for transfer and registration by letter dated 19.06.2013, the
Board found out the discrepancies; (x) that though the appellant produced
the Lok Adalat award, the respondents found the claim to be untenable
and they decided to take action under Sections 52 and 53 of the Telangana
Housing Board Act, 1956 for unauthorized occupation and that, therefore,
the writ petition deserved to be dismissed.
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5. On the basis of the pleadings on record and also on admitted
facts, the learned Single Judge found that the discrepancy regarding the
initial of the original allottee and the discrepancy regarding the way in
which the original allottee’s name was written by the appellant’s father
appeared consistently from the beginning. The learned Judge further
found that from the year of allotment namely, 1968, the name of the
original allottee was written in English with different spellings and that
after having entered into a hire purchase agreement with the appellant’s
father way back in October, 1978 and after having received all the
instalments due from him fully and completely, it was not proper on the
part of the Housing Board to take advantage of the illiteracy of the
father and grandfather of the appellant. The learned Judge also found
that there was no other claimant for the house and that admittedly the
appellant had been in occupation of the same for decades. Therefore,
the learned Judge allowed the writ petition.
6. But unfortunately the Division Bench reversed the judgment of
the learned Single Judge on the ground that the discrepancies in the
manner in which the name of the original allottee was written was
sufficient justification for the Housing Board to conclude that a fraud
was being played upon them. Interestingly, the Division Bench went to
the extent of holding that even the appellant’s father who passed away
in 1992 was guilty of fraud.
7. We
do not know how the Division Bench reached the above
conclusions. Right from the year 1968, the house has been in the
possession and enjoyment of the appellant’s family. Even in the original
application made by Venkaiah in the year 1968, there was a discrepancy
regarding the initial. After his death in 1969, the Housing Board accepted
A. Shankaraiah as his son and entered into a tenancy agreement on
14.04.1970 and a lease-cum-sale agreement on 6.10.1978. Shankaraiah
completed all his obligations under the lease-cum-sale agreement and
also died in 1992. It is not as though at the time of transferring the
tenancy in the year 1970 or at the time of entering into a lease-cum-sale
agreement on 6.10.1978 with Shankaraiah, such discrepancies did not
exist. No dispute was raised by the Housing Board about the so called
unauthorized occupation of the house by the appellant herein even after
1992 for a more than 2 decades. Therefore, to take advantage of the
discrepancies with which the Housing Board and the original allottee
and his legal heirs having co-existed for 5 decades, is completely unfair.
A. VENUGOPAL v. TELANGANA HOUSING BOARD & ANR.
[V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN]
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Unfortunately, the Division Bench treated even a man who was dead 30
years ago and who had entered into two agreements (a tenancy
agreement in the first instance and a lease- cum-sale agreement in
the second instance) as having perpetrated fraud, by a skewed logic.
Courts cannot be oblivious to the realities of life and we say no more.
8. In fine, the appeal is allowed, the judgment of the Division
Bench is set aside and the judgment of the learned Single Judge is
restored. The Housing Board shall execute a deed of transfer and register
the same in favour of the appellant within a period of two months from
the date of receipt of this order, subject to the completion of the necessary
formalities. There will be no order as to costs.
Ankit Gyan
Appeal allowed
(Assisted by : Rahul Rathi, LCRA)