SC Orders Demolition Of 40-Storey Twin Towers In Supertech-Noida Real Estate Corruption Scandal
The Supreme Court on Tuesday put a seal on Allahabad High Court’s verdict that ordered the demolition of 40-story residential towers of Supertech in Noida.
The order passed by the Allahabad High Court for the demolition of Apex and Ceyane (T-16 and T-17) does not warrant interference and the direction for demolition issued by the High Court is affirmed, the Supreme Court stated.
Massive Relief for home buyers
The Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and M.R, Shah has further ordered that the demolition work shall be carried out within a period of three months from the date of this judgment. That's not all, the appellants will carry have been directed to carry out the work of demolition at their own cost under the supervision of the officials of NOIDA.
Moreover, the detailed Supreme Court Judgement gives massive relief to the flat owners. The appellant has been directed to refund the flat purchasers in the illegal twin towers within a period of 2 months along with interest at the rate of 12 percent.
A case of illegal construction, collusion, and corruption
The growing menace of unauthorized constructions in urban cities coupled with dubious dealings is a common phenomenon. In the present case, the Supreme court noted glaring instances of corruption among the home developers in collusion with NOIDA. The homebuyers association had contended that Supertech’s concerned twin towers were not in the original plan shown to them. When the homebuyers wanted to see and verify the construction plan, the authority refused to share the plan with them at the behest of the developer. It was only when the Allahabad High Court intervened in the matter, the Noida authority gave the plan to the home buyers. According to the home buyers, the illegal construction had not only blocked the view but made access to sunlight and fresh air impossible for them. In this connection, the Supreme Court had earlier remarked that the towers were constructed by encroaching upon the green common area of the housing society.
On the other hand, Supertech argued that the said construction was not illegal and only suffered on two aspects.- lack of consent from the homebuyers and violation of the minimum distance criteria. The top court did not find any merit in the submissions of the defendants and called their sanctioned plan fabricated. Taking stringent action against the erring officials of the appellant and the officers of NOIDA for possible violations, the Supreme Court ordered stringent action by sanctioning prosecution proceedings against them.
