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Synopsis

A Supreme Court bench of Justices Chandrachud and Sudhanshu Dhulia today dismissed a plea seeking solutions other than the demolition of Supertech twin towers in Noida.

The court, while dismissing the plea, imposed a cost of rupees five lakhs on the petitioner and directed it to be deposited in the registry of the court. 

In August 2021, the apex court upheld a 2014 order of Allahabad High Court which had directed for the demolition of two 40-story towers constructed by Supertech Group at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The petitioner before the Allahabad High Court was Emerald Court Owner Resident Welfare Association of Emerald Court Group Housing Society.

It was their contention that the construction proposed by the Supertech Group would lead to restricted passage of air and light, thereby infringing Article 21 of the residents at Emerald, and was further in violation of Building Regulatory Norms of 2005, Fire Safety Norms, UP Apartments Act, 2010.

On July 29, 2022, the Supreme Court was informed that the demolition would take place on August 21, 2022. 

When the plea came up for hearing today, the bench forewarned the petitioners that they were going to impose cost since a judgment was passed by the court in this regard and a review petition was also dismissed.  The counsel for the petitioner, however, tried to persuade the court to hear him. 

The court, on hearing the submissions, observed that the towers were ordered to be destroyed on the grounds that they were in violation of building control laws. The bench further observed that "the purpose of the petition is to seek a consequence directly contrary to decision of this court."

Thus, Court dismissed the plea and imposed a cost of Rs.five lakhs on the petitioner to be deposited in the registry, in a period of four weeks. Court ordered that the money shall be utilized for the benefit of the family members of lawyers, who suffered due to COVID-19. 

Case title: Centre for law and good governance Vs State of Uttar Pradesh