Supreme Court orders make PSEB lose boarding rights at PEC
8 Apr 2009, Aditya Dev, TNN

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Engineering College (PEC) has won the court battle for 18 of its rooms occupied by a research unit of the Punjab State
Electricity Board (PSEB) since 1978. The rooms are in the Aravali hostel of the college.

On March 30, the Supreme Court granted PSEB time till September 30 to vacate the premises while dismissing the board’s special leave petition through which it had sought stay of the eviction order passed by UT estate officer.

PEC director Manoj Dutta had cancelled the allotment of the rooms to PSEB on June 5, 2008, and had requested the estate officer to start eviction proceedings against it, which duly began in July.

PEC had filed a caveat at the district court after the orders from estate office, seeking that it be heard when the PSEB pleaded against the eviction orders.

PSEB did not make PEC a party to its pleas for a stay on the order at any of the courts. The UT estate office and administration were made party to the pleas as the bodies had allotted rooms to PSEB in 1978. Then, in spite of the caveat, PSEB was able to get a stay on the order in the district court.

The plea was dismissed after PEC sought to be made a party in it.

PEC had again filed a caveat regarding the case in HC. Later, a one-judge and a two-judge bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court also rejected PSEB’s pleas.

Home secretary Ram Niwas had also withdrawn the original allotment order following a request by PEC director. PEC authorities stated they had no information that PSEB had gone to Supreme Court and only came to know about the ruling through media reports.

The then PEC director Vijay Gupta had demanded in April 2007 that the rooms be vacated. Many subsequent requests on the college’s part to the PSEB went unheard. Sources said many PEC students had to stay in table tennis halls as the hostel accommodation was limited and others had to stay in off-