Noida twin towers’ demolition: Supertech urges SC to confine demolition to one tower

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 29

Almost a month after the Supreme Court ordered demolition of Supertech’s 40-storey Emerald Court twin towers in Noida for violation of building laws and norms in collusion with Noida Authority officials, the real estate major moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday, urging it to confine demolition to one tower.

It said the demolition of one tower would ensure compliance with law, including minimum distance requirements.

Requesting the top court to stay the demolition, the company said partial demolition of 224 flats will be sufficient to bring it in conformity with the building norms.

A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud – which had ordered the demolition on August 31 – is likely to consider the plea in the next few days.

The top court had ordered that a ‘safe demolition’ has to be carried out by Supertech in three months at its own cost under the supervision of NOIDA Authority with the technical assistance of experts from the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee.

It had directed Supertech to refund the money collected from homebuyers who had purchased apartments in ill-fated twin towers in two months with an annual interest of 12 percent. It also ordered the company to pay a cost of Rs 2 crores to the Resident Welfare Association (RWA).

The RWA had filed a case against the illegal construction in 2012 on the ground that it blocked sunlight and fresh air, violating building norms “in collusion” with NOIDA officials.

The twin towers of Emerald Court Project of Supertech in sector 93A of NOIDA had 915 apartments and 21 shops. Of these, 633 flats were booked initially. Supertech had said that out of 633 people booking the flats initially, 133 had moved out to other projects, 248 had taken refunds while 252 homebuyers still had bookings in the project.

The Allahabad High Court had in April 2014 directed the NOIDA Authority to demolish the two towers in four months and reimburse the homebuyers’ money in four months with 14 percent interest compounded annually.

The top court had said “the illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to ensure compliance with the rule of law”.