Buildings around twin towers in Noida covered up ahead of the demolition. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)The Supreme Court Friday agreed to a request by the Noida Authority to fix August 28 for the demolition of the illegally built twin towers of real estate giant Supertech Ltd.
A bench presided by Justice D Y Chandrachud also allowed the Authority’s prayer for an additional week to carry out the process should any unforeseen situation like bad weather or technical problem hamper the operation.
“Noida has stated that in view of the fact that certain work prior to demolition has to be completed by August 25, 2022, and as recommended by CSIR-CBRI (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Building Research Institute), the date of demolition may be confirmed as August 28, 2022, with a ‘bandwidth of seven days’ between August 29 to September 4, 2022, to take into account any marginal delay on account of technical reasons or weather conditions. The request made by Noida is acceded to,” the bench, also comprising Justice A S Bopanna, said in its order.
The Supreme Court had on August 31, 2021, ordered the demolition of the twin towers for violating building norms in “collusion” with Noida officials. The top court had held that the illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to ensure compliance with the rule of law.
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In February, the Noida Authority informed the top court that demolition work had started and would be completed by May 22. However, the Authority subsequently told the court that it may not be possible to demolish the entire structure finally by that date, and time would be required until August. It pointed out that the Director, CBRI, had, by communication dated May 11, indicated that the work of final demolition may be carried out by August 28.
On Friday, Noida filed a status report which said CSIR-CBRI had recommended that the demolition be confirmed for August 28.
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Appearing for Noida Authority Friday, advocate Ravindra Kumar requested that as some more work remains to be completed by August 25, it may be fixed for August 28. “Considering any unforeseen circumstance/ factor/or any delay in charging time on account due to technical reasons and/or weather conditions, a bandwidth of seven days between 29.8.2022 and 4.9.2022 may be granted for carrying out the demolition in the event of the demolition not taking place on 28.8.2022 due to the aforesaid circumstances,” the authority prayed.
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First published on: 13-08-2022 at 03:54:58 am