Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has has quashed Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) decision to cancel flat allotments under its “Policy Holders’ Housing Scheme” at Jeevan Bima Nagar in Bhubaneswar’s Chandrasekharpur and shift to an auction-based process.
The single judge bench of Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad ordered LIC to complete the allotment process within eight weeks, provided each allottee pays an additional 10% above the original flat cost.
The HC passed the verdict while hearing four separate petitions filed by Satyavan K Panda, Dr Laxmikanta Mishra, Dr Swapna Kabiraj and Saktidhar Das between 2015 and 2018
In 2014, LIC promised to allot 75 flats through a lottery system under Phase-II of the scheme, with each petitioner paying Rs 1 lakh initially. However, it later reneged on this commitment and moved towards public auction instead, citing legal issues like forest clearance and lack of updated Record of Rights (ROR).
When the RoR was eventually updated, the LIC still chose to cancel the earlier allotments, offering refunds instead. The allottees, however, rejected the offer, demanding the flats. While LIC argued that current market rates made the original prices unviable, the court noted that the petitioners were also not at fault and had complied with all conditions.
On September 10, Justice Shripad held that the petitioners must pay an additional 10% over the originally agreed flat price to account for market changes and directed LIC to proceed with the allotments. Petitioners have to pay the full amount, including the additional 10%, within six weeks, after which LIC will execute and register the sublease deeds within eight weeks.
