Chandigarh, Oct. 10 -- : The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Chandigarh administration to consider framing a rehabilitation policy for migrant labourers from the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, who have been residing in government quarters in Sector-29 for nearly four decades. The high court bench of justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and justice Deepak Manchanda upheld the decision of Chandigarh administration to evict them, holding that the petitioners had no legal right to retain possession of the premises. It noted that eviction orders had attained finality in 2012, and the issue dealt with then, can't be reopened by the court now. However, it granted the petitioners time until March 2026 to vacate the premises, stating that they be accorded reasonable time to make alternative arrangements. The court acknowledged that the petitioners have been living in the premises for approximately 37 years, and their immediate eviction would be "unjust and harsh". The pleas, filed between 2019 and 2024, were by erstwhile Kashmiri migrants who contended that the administration was proceeding with the eviction process without serving prior notices. They claimed that while eviction notices were first issued in January 2019, they had submitted representations seeking rehabilitation, but the administration failed to respond. Consequently, they approached the court. The petitioners had submitted that they had been living in the government quarters for the past 35 years, and unlike residents of other slums and colonies, they were not included in any rehabilitation survey. According to the court order, in 1983-84, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir had requested the Chandigarh administration to accommodate migrant workers who would travel during the harsh winter months to earn a livelihood. The administration had then allowed them to occupy 60 quarters on a temporary basis. While upholding the eviction, the court directed the UT administration to consider the rehabilitation of the petitioners and, if necessary, to frame a policy for the same....