The residents of Alfa Serene, one of the four apartment complexes in Maradu which the Supreme Court had ordered to be pulled down, complained that they were unaware of the court cases related to the structure.
Even though the case related to the apartment complex was fought in the Kerala High Court and later in the Supreme Court, the builder kept the residents in the dark about the court cases, the residents told media persons here on Tuesday.
There was no communication from the builder regarding the cases and the Supreme Court order for demolition came as a bolt from the blue. It was from the media reports that the residents became aware of the development, representatives of the apartment owners said.
They said they didn’t receive any formal communication from the builder regarding his offer to provide apartments of same dimension, free of cost if the existing structure has to be demolished.
“We came to know about the offer only through media. There has not been any communication to the residents or the association of the residents regarding the offer,” said Rasheed Usman, the president of the Association and Sen Usman, its secretary.
Incidentally, the residents have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court stating that they were not heard while the apex court ordered the demolition of the structure.
The petition is likely to be considered by the bench, which ordered the demolition, when the Supreme Court resumes functioning after the summer vacation.
More than 70% of the apartment owners had availed of home loans for purchasing the apartments. The banks, which provided the home loans, have now started sounding the creditors about the outstanding loan amount. Four or five banks have certified the apartment as their approved projects.
The average age of the residents of these apartment was found to be about 60 years, said Sooraj, one of the residents.
Responding to the allegation, Paul Raj, director of Alfa Serene, said the residents were informed about the court cases from time to time. The residents were fully aware of the developments regarding the case. Since 2007, when the developments regarding the case in the Kerala High Court was reported by media, several residents had sought information and clarification was issued to them regularly, said Mr. Raj.
However, he refused to comment on his earlier offer for providing the residents new apartments free of cost, if the structure has to be demolished.