PHHC Stays Move to Transfer PSPCL Land; Latifpura Evictees Moved To LIG Flats

Granting interim relief in a pending Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) stayed the Panjab government’s move to transfer any property owned by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The PIL filed by Rajbir Singh describes these properties as long-term public assets and argues that liquidating them to address what it terms a ‘self-created fiscal crisis’ is improper. Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers Association (PSEBEA) have been resisting the transfer of PSPCL land to Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) for a long time. PSEBEA general secretary Ajaypal Singh Atwal said, ‘Instead, the Panjab government should release its pending power subsidy to PSPCL and direct government departments to clear about USD 28.6M in outstanding electricity bills’. The PIL was filed against the transfer of 50 acres in Badungar village, Patiala district. The government was transferring the land to the PUDA under its 80:20 policy, after which it was to be auctioned in the open market. The PIL also alleges a deepening financial crisis at PSPCL due to large-scale defaults by government departments. The petition states that electricity dues owed by various government departments had mounted to USD 285M as of 31 Aug 2025 and the unpaid power subsidy had crossed USD 11.9B. It argues that although the government is a consumer like any other, it has failed to discharge its moral, ethical, and statutory obligation to clear electricity bills, pushing PSPCL into financial distress. As a result, PSPCL has been forced to take substantial loans to meet routine expenditure such as salaries, pensions, and power purchases. Additionally, eviction of people in Jalandhar’s Latifpura triggered protests with women climbing atop a water tank and staying there for 26 hours. The police collected the belongings of the occupants and shifted them to Jalandhar Improvement Trust’s vacant Low Income Group flats in Bibi Bhani Complex whose condition the evictees found deplorable. In 2022 when their built-up houses had been demolished, the government had offered the evictees the same flats worth USD 3,500 each. At the time also they had not accepted it, choosing to live in tents instead (earlier coverage).