The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : Show-cause notice to housing board

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Sunday, Dec 24, 2006
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Show-cause notice to housing board

Staff Reporter

`Failure' to return mortgage and lease deed despite pleas the trigger

BHUBANESWAR: The Khurda District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum has issued a show-cause notice to the Orissa State Housing Board (OSHB) on a petition filed by a person who has reportedly spent more than half of his life period to get back the mortgage deposited to book a house.

The forum ordered the government undertaking to reply to the notice by January 20. Ramakant Mohanty, a retired State Government employee, was 31 when he booked a house at Nageswar Tangi in Bhubaneswar, which was then being developed by the OSHB. Mr. Mohanty owned the house by paying back the value in instalments. Now, he is 66.

But, the board is yet to return him the original mortgage and lease deed.

Mr. Mohanty recently filed a petition with the forum seeking a compensation of Rs. 2,66,836 from the OSHB.

Prior to this, the petitioner approached Lokpal and sought information on the status of his mortgage from the board through the Right to Information Act.

"The OSHB has not bothered to care about a retired senior citizen. Though he has been running from pillar to post and has spent half of his life for getting back his documents, the board has paid a deaf ear to his pleas. This is an unfair practice," counsellor for the petitioner Silabhadra Sastry said.

He said though the Tribunal in Arbitration had found fault on the part of the OSHB and directed refund of Rs. 6,366 to Mr. Mohanty within 120 days, the petitioner was yet to receive the money.

In between, the petitioner had lost 36 valuable years in getting the document for availing loans and no-objection certificates from different agencies.

All his attempts had gone in vain, Mr. Sastry said.

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