Brief facts for the disposal of this petition are that the petitioner, being an employee of Federal Government in BPS-12 was allotted House No, 3/4-D Street No, 15, Sector G-7/2, Islamabad vide letter dated 21.7.2010 which had previously been allotted to Mr. Abdul Jail Respondent No, 3 after transfer from Pakistan as Third Secretary (BPS-17) in the Embassy of Pakistan Allgier on 4.8.2009.
2. It is the case of the petitioner that the Respondent No, 3 even after transfer, did not vacate the house and the Respondent No, 2 vide letter dated 21.9.2010 allowed him to retain the possession of said quarter for a period of three years which is in violation of Accommodation Allocation Rules, 2002, especially when the Respondent. No, 3 has been provided free accommodation at his place of posting i.e Algier.
3. It is further submitted that the Respondent No, 1 had issued a notice dated 26.8.2010 to Respondent No, 3 for vacation of house within fourteen days but he got a stay order from the Civil Court through a civil suit which was dismissed for non-prosecution on 9.6.2010 and this Court vide order dated 3.2.2011 passed in Writ Petition No, 230/2011 had observed that the Estate Office can take action against Respondent No, 3 as according to record there is no restraining order against them at present.
4. The petitioner, therefore, prayed that Letter F.No, 3/4-D, G-7/2/E IV dated 21.9.2010 be declared illegal, without jurisdiction and the Respondents No, 1 and 2 be directed to get the house vacated from Respondent No, 3 for peaceful delivery of the possession to the petitioner.
5. The counsel for petitioner relied upon following case laws:--
(i) 1998 PLC (C.S) 4 Manzoor Ahmad vs. Province of Punjab (ii) W.P No, 206/2008 of this Court, Nehmatullah vs. FOP (iii) W.P. No, 3227/2010 of this Court, Fazal Abbas vs. FOP.
6. The authorities are on the point that Government employee after transfer or retirement, cannot retain the government accommodation beyond a grace period of six months under the Accommodation Allocation Rules, 2002.
7. Respondents No, 2 and 3 despite service of notice, did not file parawise comments while Respondent No, 1 (Estate Officer) contested the petition through parawise comments by stating that the Respondent No, 2 can allow retention of house in such cases and, therefore, the Estate Office cannot take any action for vacation of the house from Respondent No, 3.
8. Heard and record perused.
9. Admittedly, the quarter-in-question was allotted to the petitioner vide allotment Letter No, 3/4-D, St,G-7/2/EII/EO dated 21.7.2010 which is still in the field.
10. The transfer of Respondent No, 3 to Pakistan Embassy in Algier is also not denied where he assumed charge on 4.8.2009. Another admitted feature of the case is that Respondent No, 3 has been provided on official accommodation by Embassy of Algiers.
11. Rule 15 of Allocation Accommodation Rules, 2002 is very clear on this point, which prescribes criteria for eligibility for retention of house after retirement or transfer.
Rule 15 (2) An allotted, on his retirement or expiry of contract period shall be entitled to retain the accommodation under his occupation for a period not exceeding six months, on payment of normal rent and this facility will be available to FGS once only.
Rule 15 (4) An allottee who is.--
(a) transferred or sent on deputation to an out station eligible department, he shall be entitled to retain the accommodation till his posting back to the station of accommodation or till the availability of accommodation at the new station with the permission of Works Division provided he does not claim the accommodation or house rent allowance at his new place of posting and his Ministry shall take up the case with he Ministry of Housing and Works for this purpose;
12. Rule 17 of the Rules {ibid] prohibits the possession of more than one accommodation: "Possessing more than one accommodation.--(1) No FGS shall kept more than one accommodation at the same time in his possession.
(2) If a FGS is found in possession of more than one accommodation at the same time, the allotments of all the houses or flats in his possession shall be cancelled.
(3) He shall be charged rent at the rate of one rental ceiling per month of his entitlement for possessing any additional accommodation over and above his entitlement.
(4) He shall be liable to disciplinary action for misconduct under the relevant rules or laws.
(5) A FGS who is found guilty under sub-rule -(4) shall be disqualified for any allotment in future, for ten years.
(6) On becoming eligible for government accommodation his name shall be placed at the bottom of the GWL on that date, provided he applies:
13. It is thus evident that the Respondent No, 3 violated the Accommodation Allocation Rules, 2002 by retaining the possession of Quarter No, 3/4-D, ST.15, G-7/2, Islamabad after getting the possession of accommodation at Algiers. Moreover, possession of two houses at the same time also makes him liable for disciplinary actions under Rule 17 of the Accommodation Allocation Rules, 2002 and, therefore, the order dated 21.9.2010 passed by Respondent No, 2 is declared without lawful authority and in violation of Accommodation Allocation Rules, 2002. Respondent No, 1 is directed to immediately get the said house vacated and to deliver its peaceful possession to the petitioner.
14. The petition is allowed in above terms with no order as to costs.