Supreme Court orders demolition of 40-storey Noida towers

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 31

The Supreme Court today ordered demolition of real estate major Supertech’s 40-storey Emerald Court twin towers in Noida for violation of building laws and norms in collusion with Noida Authority officials.

A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said a “safe demolition” has to be carried out by Supertech in three months at its own cost under the supervision of Noida Authority with the technical assistance of experts from the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee.

The Bench also directed Supertech to refund the money collected from homebuyers who had purchased apartments in the towers in two months with an annual interest of 12%. It also ordered the company to pay a cost of Rs 2 crore to the Resident Welfare Association (RWA).

The RWA had filed a case against the illegal construction in 2012 on the ground that it blocked sunlight and fresh air, violating building norms “in collusion” with Noida officials.

The top court said “the illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to ensure compliance with the rule of law.”

The twin towers in Sector 93A had 915 apartments and 21 shops. Of these, 633 flats were booked initially. Supertech had said out of 633 purchasers booking the flats initially, 133 had moved out to other projects, 248 had taken refunds while 252 homebuyers still had bookings in the project.