
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered demolition of twin 40-storey towers of Supertech's Emerald Court project in Noida for violation of building norms.
The court said the construction of the twin towers, having 915 flats and shops, was done in violation of building by-laws and in collusion with NOIDA authority. It gave three months time to carry out the demolition under the supervision of NOIDA authority.
"The work of demolition shall be carried out by the appellant at its own cost under the supervision of the officials of NOIDA. In order to ensure that the work of demolition is carried out in a safe manner without affecting the existing pleadings, NOIDA shall consult its own experts and experts from Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee," the Supreme Court said in its order.
On April 11, 2014, the Allahabad High Court had ordered demolition of the two buildings within four months and the refund of money to apartment buyers.
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The illegal construction was done through collusion between the officers of NOIDA and Supertech and its management, and the High Court's order does not warrant any interference, the Supreme Court said.
The bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said Supertech raised false pleas and attempted to mislead the court, while the officials of NOIDA have not acted bona fide in the discharge of their duties. "The appellant (Supertech) has stooped to the point of producing a fabricated sanctioned plan," it added.
The top court said that recently it has seen rampant unauthorised construction in metropolitan areas in collusion with planning authorities and it has to be dealt with sternly.
The court ordered Supertech to refund to all flat owners in the towers the amount invested for the allotted flats along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum, payable with effect from the date of the respective deposits. It also asked the company to pay Rs 2 crore to RWA within a month.
Meanwhile, Supertech has decided to file a review petition against the Supreme court judgement, RK Arora , Chairman Supertech group, said.
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