NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the Noida Authority as a “corrupt body” for supporting and toeing the line of builder Supertech with regard to two housing towers that are said to be illegal constructions.
The court’s comments came as it reserved its order on whether the additional towers built by the company in one of its housing societies are illegal and need to be demolished.
The Allahabad high court had in 2017 declared the towers illegal and ordered demolition but the apex court had stayed the order while directing the company to refund buyers.
The Noida Authority received a rap on its knuckles for its support to Supertech as it even went to the extent of justifying the builder's decisions. The bench strongly objected and said the authority should act like a public regulating body and not a private body to protect someone's interest. “This is not the way to argue. Noida should take a neutral stand. It seems you are the promoter of the project,” the bench said.
Over 950 flats were to be built in the twin towers, with construction completed till 32 floors, when the demolition order was passed on the plea of the residents’ welfare association of Emerald Court housing society. As many as 633 people had booked the flats, of whom 248 have taken refunds and 133 shifted to Supertech’s other housing projects. But 252 buyers still remain invested in the hope of a favourable order from the court. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah reserved orders after extensively hearing all sides.
It’s a business for developers, but it’s not your business, SC tells Noida Authority
Advocate Ravindra Kumar, appearing for Noida authority, said he needed to argue against the high court judgment which had directed prosecution of its officials for sanctioning the plan to construct the towers.
But the apex court bench was not satisfied and pointed out that the authority had, on the instruction of Supertech, refused to provide its sanction plan to the RWA and it provided the information only when the high court passed the order against the authority.
“You are in cohort with the builder. You are a corrupt body,” the bench said.
The court further pointed out that the authority failed to take action when a complaint was filed against the company. “You are making that submission which should be made by Vikas Singh (Supertech lawyer). It is very unfortunate. It is a business for developers, but it is not your business.”
Concluding his arguments on behalf of Supertech, Vikas Singh said that a wrong impression had been created that the twin towers were constructed on green area. He said that only the central area of the project was a garden area and towers were constructed on vacant space.
Senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, appearing for the RWA, contended that the constructions were patently illegal and they have to be demolished. He said that the construction was allowed despite the objection raised by the chief fire officer who had said that building additional towers would reduce the distance between buildings which would be in violation of fire safety norms.
