Civil Court overturns decision to deny SIFCO flat to Hiya flat and land recipient

The Civil Court yesterday overturned a decision by the Sifainge Cooperative, SIFCO, which had disqualified a person from receiving a SIFCO flat due to his later acquisition of housing through the Hiya housing project.

In 2014, recipients of SIFCO flats were selected and required to pay a down payment of MVR 91,200. Although the flats were only completed last year, eligibility conditions at the time of selection specified that neither the applicant nor their spouse could own any other residential property.

However, due to delays in the completion of the SIFCO flats, some selected recipients and in some cases, their spouses acquired housing through other government projects such as the Hiya flats. As a result, several individuals were deemed ineligible, despite having been initially approved and having made the required payments. While some challenged the decision in court and were later granted the flats, others remained excluded.

In the case ruled on yesterday, the claimant had been declared ineligible by SIFCO after it was found that he owned a 525-square-foot flat and shared ownership of a 2,000-square-foot plot of land. However, the court noted that both properties were acquired after his eligibility for the SIFCO flat had already been established and after he had made the down payment.

Additionally, while the petitioner had obtained a Hiya flat, he had not disclosed information about his earlier SIFCO allocation. Despite this, the Civil Court ruled that eligibility should be assessed based on the applicant’s circumstances at the time they were notified of their SIFCO flat allocation. Since the petitioner had already paid the down payment, the court determined that a binding agreement had been formed.

As a result, the court found the decision to revoke the claimant SIFCO flat allocation to be unlawful. It ordered that the removal of his name from the list of flat recipients be reversed, that his name be reinstated in the registry, that a formal agreement be signed, and that the keys to the flat be handed over to him.