'Illegal buildings warrant stern action', Supreme Court had ordered

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, August 28

“Illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to ensure compliance with the rule of law” — This is what the Supreme Court had said on August 31, 2021, while ordering demolition of real estate major Supertech’s 40-storey Emerald Court twin towers in Noida for violation of building laws and norms in collusion with Noida Authority officials.

A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud had rejected Supertech’s appeal against the demolition, ordered by the Allahabad HC in a 2014 verdict. “The order passed by the HC for the demolition of Apex and Ceyane does not warrant interference and the direction for demolition issued by the HC is affirmed,” it said.

“A breach by the planning authority of its obligation to ensure compliance with building regulations is actionable at the instance of residents whose rights are infringed by the violation of law. Their quality of life is directly affected by the failure of the planning authority to enforce compliance,” the SC said.

The SC Bench had directed Supertech to refund the money collected from homebuyers who had purchased apartments in the twin towers within two months with an annual interest of 12 per cent.

It had also ordered the company to pay a cost of Rs 2 crore to the Residents Welfare Association (RWA).

252 homebuyers still had bookings

• The RWA filed a case on the grounds that the twin towers blocked sunlight and fresh air, and violated building norms
• Towers had 915 apartments, of which 633 flats were booked
• 133 moved to other projects, 248 took refund, 252 still had bookings

Senior citizens’ fight gets closure

A group of four elderly — UBS Teotia (80), SK Sharma (74), Ravi Bajaj (65) and MK Jain (59) — were the first to object to the towers

Twin towers & their fall

2005: Approval to build 14 towers with 10 floors each

2006: Building plan amended to include 1 more tower

2009: Plan revised again, twin towers with 24 floors mooted; a few residents object as the construction begins

2012: RWA moves Allahabad HC as floor count raised to 40 & construction in green area

2014: HC orders demolition, Supertech moves SC

Aug 31, 2021: SC upholds HC ruling, orders demolition of the twin towers in 3 months

May 17, 2022: SC extends the deadline to August 28

Gone in 9 seconds

2.30 pm floors come crashing down

5,000 people in nearby societies evacuated

200 pets, 3,000 vehicles removed

Execution cost

Rs 20 cr to be borne by Supertech

Rs 500 cr value of twin towers

55,000- 80,000 tonnes of debris at site, will take 3 months to clear

Brought down on SC’S order