In a major blow to real estate company Supertech, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the demolition of its two 40-storey buildings in one of its housing projects in Noida.
A bench headed by justice D.Y. Chandrachud said there was collusion between Noida authority and Supertech, while allowing construction of two towers in one of its projects in Noida.
The bench said, Noida authority gave permission to Supertech to construct two additional 40-floor towers, in violation of the rules and directed that demolition should be carried out within 3 months.
The top court emphasized that there has been rampant increase in unauthorised constructions in urban areas, which resulted from collusion between the developers and urban planning authorities and added that such violation of rules should be dealt with in a strict manner.
The top court directed Supertech to refund all amounts to the buyers of the apartments in twin towers within two months with interest with 12 per cent per annum. The Supreme Court also directed the builder to pay a cost of Rs 2 crore to the Resident Welfare Association.
Shocking exercise of power
Earlier, this month the top court had slammed the Noida Authority for its "shocking exercise of power" in sanctioning two residential towers of real estate developer Supertech in a green area. The top court also pointed out that the authority blocked right to information requests from homebuyers about the building plans.
The top court had told the Noida Authority, "From the way you are arguing it appears that you are the promoter. You cannot be fighting against the homebuyers".
The top court had further added that as a public authority, it has to take a neutral stand, but its conduct reeks of corruption from the eyes, ears and nose.
The top court verdict came on appeals by Supertech and Noida authority challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict on April 11, 2014, to demolish two towers, Apex and Ceyane, constructed, which was part of Supertech's Emerald Court project.
