SC ORDERS DEMOLITION OF 40-STOREY TOWERS IN NOIDA OVER BUILDING NORMS VIOLATION

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld an order passed by the Allahabad High Court directing the demolition of twin 40-storey towers in the Emerald Court project in Noida for violation of building norms.

The apex court in its order said, “The order passed by the 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 in its order further said that the work of demolition shall be carried out within a period of three months from the date of this judgement. The work of demolition shall be carried out by the appellant (Supertech Limited) 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 (CBRI), Roorkee, the court added.

The work of demolition shall be carried out under the overall supervision of CBRI. In the event that CBRI expresses its inability to do so, another expert agency shall be nominated by NOIDA, the court said.

The cost of demolition and all incidental expenses including the fees payable to the experts shall be borne by the appellant (Supertech Limited), the court said.

The Supertech Limited shall within a period of two months refund all existing flat purchasers in Apex and Ceyane (T-16 and T-17). Other than those to whom refunds have already been made, all the amounts invested for the allotted flats together with interest at the rate of twelve per cent per annum payable with effect from the date of the respective deposits until the date of refund in terms of Part H of this judgement, the court added.

The Supertech Limited shall pay to the RWA costs quantified at Rs 2 crore, to be paid in one month from the receipt of this judgement, the court said.