In a distressing development, approximately 2,000 residents of a cooperative housing society in Lucknow, primarily comprising ex-servicemen and senior citizens, are confronting the threat of having their properties sealed and attached by the municipal authorities. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has initiated action against the Sarojininagar Sainik Sahkari Awas Samiti Limited over a protracted dispute concerning house tax payments.
Retrospective Tax Demands Spark Outrage
The core of the controversy lies in the LMC's decision to raise house tax demands retrospectively from the year 2010. Residents allege that these demands were issued without conducting year-wise assessments, providing reasoned orders, or granting a fair opportunity for a hearing. The first official intimation regarding this backdated tax arrived only in June 2024, when bills demanding payment for the period from 2010 to 2024–25 were suddenly issued to the society.
This move has been met with fierce resistance from the residents, who term the recovery process illegal. The situation intensified on December 21 last year when the LMC published a list naming the society as "major defaulters" in newspapers, warning of property seizure and sealing if the alleged dues were not cleared.
Residents Cry Foul Over Lack of Services
The residents argue that their decades-old society has historically received no municipal services whatsoever. Infrastructure such as roads, streetlights, and water pipelines were built and have been maintained entirely at the residents' own cost. They question the legitimacy of being charged house tax for over a decade for services that were never rendered by the civic body.
At the society's Annual General Meeting held on December 28, members unanimously passed a resolution declaring the LMC's recovery attempt as unlawful. Chartered accountant and resident CA Srinivas Saini clarified that the dispute is not about tax evasion. "We are not refusing to pay tax. We are only insisting that it be levied in a lawful manner," he stated.
Political Intervention and Broken Promises
The issue has garnered political attention. Local Sarojininagar MLA Rajeshwar Singh wrote to the Chief Minister, highlighting that the colony was developed in the early 1950s and has never seen any municipal infrastructure work. Earlier, in November, Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharakwal had publicly stated that retrospective revision of house tax was wrong and any reassessment should be effective only from 2022. She had also formed a committee to examine complaints related to GIS-based reassessment.
Despite these assurances, municipal staff have reportedly been threatening the attachment of both movable and immovable properties, which residents describe as harassment of veterans and the elderly. Retired Lt Col AK Saxena, father of former helicopter pilot Gunjan Saxena, expressed deep distress over the situation. "Despite assurances that backdated tax is wrong, we are now being threatened with sealing of our homes," he said.
The standoff continues, with the ex-servicemen and senior citizens caught between the LMC's recovery drive and the promises of political representatives, leaving the future of their homes uncertain.
