Tewari decries refusal to grant amnesty to Chandigarh Housing Board allottees
MP Manish Tewari, in the Parliament, questioned whether the Union government planned to introduce an amnesty scheme or enact legislation to provide relief to the Chandigarh allottees, given the unceasing flow of notices from CHB
Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday decried the refusal of the Union home ministry to grant an amnesty scheme to the occupants of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for various alterations.
Tewari, in the Parliament, questioned whether the Union government planned to introduce an amnesty scheme or enact legislation, similar to the 1999 Delhi scheme or the NCT of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Act, 2023, to provide relief to the Chandigarh allottees, given the problems caused by the unceasing flow of notices from the CHB.
Tewari disclosed that the home ministry had said there was no plan to grant any amnesty.
He said, “It is most unfortunate that in the past 10 years, CHB issued 7,468 notices, but carried out only 223 demolitions. The percentage of notices to demolitions works out to a meagre 3.26% only. Even the fine recovered over 10 years is ₹3.72 crore only, which is only ₹37.2 lakh a year on an average”.
He added that it is obvious that these notices are instruments of harassment, intimidation, coercion and even rent seeking.
Tewari further said, “It is unfortunate that the CHB refuses to bring an amnesty scheme, despite the fact that it is the most logical thing to do to mitigate this constant harassment and intimidation.”
He appealed to the Chandigarh administrator to review the functioning of the CHB comprehensively.
