Read Time: 06 minutes

Earlier, the Supreme Court had upheld a 2014 order of Allahabad High Court which had directed for the demolition of two 40-storey towers constructed by Supertech Group at Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by Supertech Ltd. seeking modification of the Supreme Court judgment of August 31 directing demolition of the twin tower 40 storeys building of Supertech's Emerald Court project at Noida.

A division bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice BV Nagarathna said,

“You are seeking modification of Judgment in the review application, you cannot do this, you are seeking demolition of one tower.”

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the petitioner submitted, “I'm not seeking review I'm seeking implementation of the judgment”.

"I'll slice the building from top to bottom, if one floor equals10000 sq then it'll become 5 and it'll fall within the judgment and green area requirement will be met," Rohatgi added.

However, Senior Advocate Jayant Bhushan appearing for the respondents submitted tha, "Milords my objection is that it cannot be modified, it is a review, it cannot be entertained. There are Judgments in this regards."

Whereas, the bench dismissed the application stating, "The attempt in the plea is clear two seek amendment, the attempt is not permissible in Miscellaneous Application."

Background: 

"The work of demolition should be carried out within 3 months under the supervision of NOIDA officials and at the expense of Supertech Group," the bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said while pronouncing the orders on demolition on August 31.
The court also recorded a collusion between the NOIDA Officials and the appellant group on several instances.

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 Art. 21 of the residents at Emerald – and was further in violation of Building Regulatory Norms of 2005, Fire Safety Norms, UP Apartments Act, 2010.

Allahabad High Court by order dated Apr 11, 2014, directed:

(i) Demolition of Towers (T) - 16 and 17 by the third respondent, Okhla Industrial Development Authority, in Emerald Court situated on Plot No 4, Sector 93A, NOIDA;

(ii) Cost of demolition and removal to be borne by the appellant, failing which NOIDA shall recover it as arrears of land revenue;

(iii) Sanction for prosecution under Section 49 of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Act 1973, as incorporated by Section 12 of the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development Act 1976, shall be granted for the prosecution of the officials of the appellant and the officers of NOIDA for possible violations of the UPIAD Act, 1976 and Uttar Pradesh Apartment (Promotion of Construction, Ownership & Maintenance) Act 2010; and

(iv) Refund of amounts invested by purchasers who had booked apartments in T-16 and T-17, with interest at fourteen percent, compounded annually.

Case Title: Supertech Ltd Vs. Emaral Court Owner Resident Welfare Association and Ors