Residential allotment eligibility turns on family ownership: sanctioned upper-floor housing above commercial premises counts as a residential house.

Regulation 6(1) of the Chandigarh Housing Board allotment rules barred residential allotment where the applicant, spouse, or dependent relations already owned a residential plot or house in Chandigarh, Mohali, or Panchkula. A sanctioned residential flat on the upper floors of a property whose ground floor was allotted for commercial use was treated as a residential house for this purpose because the family had already obtained a residential benefit. The respondent was therefore ineligible for the allotment, and cancellation of the plot was upheld. The deposited amount was directed to be refunded without interest.

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Issues: Whether the respondent was ineligible for allotment of a residential plot because her husband owned a residential house within the meaning of Regulation 6(1) of the Chandigarh Housing Board (Allotment, Management and Sale of Tenaments) Regulations, 1979, and whether the cancellation of the allotment was justified.

Analysis: Regulation 6(1) barred allotment where the applicant, spouse, or dependent relations already owned a residential plot or house in Chandigarh, Mohali, or Panchkula. The husband's plot, though originally allotted for commercial use on the ground floor, had sanctioned construction of residential accommodation on the upper floors. That residential accommodation constituted ownership of a residential house for the purpose of the regulation. The object of the regulation was to prevent the same family from obtaining more than one residential benefit from a public authority, and the expression "residential house" was therefore wide enough to include a flat constructed above a commercial portion when such residential use was permitted and in fact constructed.

Conclusion: The respondent was not eligible for the residential allotment, and the cancellation of the allotment was justified.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the cancellation of allotment was upheld, and the respondent was allowed refund of the deposited amount without interest.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of an allotment eligibility rule barring ownership of a "residential house", a residential flat constructed on upper floors above a commercial ground floor under sanctioned plans is also treated as a residential house owned by the allottee's family.

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