Lagatar24 Desk
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 2014 verdict of the Allahabad High Court directing the demolition of the 40-storey twin tower building of Supertech Limited’s Emerald Court project.
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah ordered that the demolition of the twin towers should be completed within three months and the builder has to bear the expenses for the same.
Importantly, the Court ordered that all the flat owners in the twin towers should be reimbursed with 12 per cent interest, reports Bar and Bench.
The order was passed after the Court concluded that the sanction given by New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) in November 2009 for the twin towers was violative of minimum distance requirement and national building code.
The Court said that the case is replete with instances of collusion between NOIDA and the builder and illegal construction of twin towers was achieved by such collusion.
“Collusion is writ large in this case. There is an unholy nexus between the builder and planner,” the Court said.
On the aspect of collusion between the builder and Noida authority, the judgment states, “the record of this case is replete with instances which highlight the collusion between the officers of NOIDA with the appellant and its management. The case has revealed a nefarious complicity of the planning authority in the violation by the developer of the provisions of law.”
The suggestion that the twin towers from part of one block was an afterthought, the Court further said.
Justice DY Chandrachud led bench has noted that the rampant increase in “unauthorized constructions across urban areas, particularly in metropolitan cities where soaring values of land place a premium on dubious dealings has been noticed in several decisions of this Court”.
“This state of affairs has often come to pass in no small a measure because of the collusion between developers and planning authorities” reads the verdict.
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appeared for the builder. Senior Advocate Jayant Bhushan, Advocate for the Resident Welfare Association. Advocate Gaurav Agarwal appeared as a the amicus. Advocates Mathews, Ajay Bhargava and Trishala Trivedi, from Khaitan & Co appeared for the homebuyers in the subventions scheme.
