The Orissa High Court granted relief to an old widow who was denied benefits of a central housing scheme.

The High Court was hearing a writ petition against the wrongful denial of funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) scheme to build a house.

A single judge Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra directed that a work order be issued in the widow’s name without waiting for recovery of illegally paid funds.

The Bench also directed the state government to compensate her for the “humiliation and hardship caused to her due to the misconduct and negligent act of State officials.” This money was directed to be recovered from the salaries of erring officials.

Advocate A. Dash appeared for the widow-petitioner, Advocate B. Panigrahi appeared for the opposing parties.

Tribulations of the widow

The petitioner was an old widow who, after her husband’s death, applied for a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) before the local sarpanch.

After repeated visits to the sarpanch’s office and waiting a considerable time, an enquiry was finally conducted. The ground staff found her eligible for a house under the scheme.

Even as her name had been registered as a beneficiary, she did not receive the sanctioned amount. She then filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) seeking information about the beneficiary allotment. She was informed that the information she sought was already available on the PMAY-G website.

The woman then got to know money had been sanctioned in her favour years ago, but some other person had got it. With this information, she submitted her representation before the Collector Grievance Cell. However, no action was subsequently taken on her petition.

The woman then approached the Orissa High Court pleading that she was yet to receive any benefits under the scheme though more than seven years had elapsed since her first application.

During the course of the hearing, the Court noted that the Block Development Officer (BDO) of the concerned area stated that one Minati Rout had submitted a written document claiming that her name is Ramamani alias Ramarani Rout. (The name of the present petitioner is Ramamani Rout). When refused a sanction under the scheme, the wrongful claimant had gotten a notarised affidavit stating that the two women, even with different names for spouse and father, were one and the same.

Noting that the petitioner widow has been waiting to receive the benefit of the scheme for a considerable time, the Court stated that she should be paid the sanctioned amount without waiting for recovery from the wrongful claimant.

Accordingly, the Court directed the BDO to issue a work order in her name within four weeks.

The Orisha state government was directed to pay Rs. 20,000 to the petitioner widow within six weeks “to compensate for the humiliation and hardship caused to her due to the misconduct and negligent act of the State officials.” The above amount is to be recovered from the salary of the concerned officials found responsible for the said laches.” The Collector was also directed to initiate proceedings against the concerned PEO and the wrongful claimant for recovery of money illegally released.

The Superintendent of Police was ordered to proceed against the culprits, “preferably” within six months.

Cause title: Ramamani Rout v. State of Orisha And Ors. [W.P.(C) No.11144 of 2024]

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocate A. Dash

Respondents: Advocate B. Panigrahi

Click here to read/download Judgment



Orissa High Court

Tushar Kohli