What is the Supertech case?

In a landmark judgment passed on August 31, 2021, the SCOI - Supreme Court of India - has ratified an order of the Allahabad High Court directing the destruction of the twin towers being constructed by a well-known company in Delhi known as Supertech Ltd.

On Wednesday, a day after the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the twin towers that were being constructed in Noida’s Sector 93A, Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh directed to take firm action against Noida Authority officials that were involved with the construction of the 40-story twin towers. A day before - Tuesday - the Supreme Court had ordered the demolition of the towers that were undergoing construction in Noida, within three months for violation of building norms in “collusion” with the district officials, adjudging that such situations - illegal constructions, etc - needs to be dealt with appropriately, an firmly to ensure adherence with the rule of law.

The NOIDA - New Okhla Industrial Development Authority - authority received a ‘nap on its knuckles’ when/as the top court indicated several incidents of collusion of its officials with Supertech Ltd in the Emerald Court project, as well as the violations of the norms by the realty major in construction of these towers.

The top court also regulated that the entire amount of - home - buyers be refunded with an interest of 12 percent from the time of booking, and also that the RWA, more commonly known as the Residents Welfare Association, be paid Rs 2 crore for any and all harassment caused due to the construction of the twin towers, as they would have blocked fresh air and sunlight to already existing occupants of the housing prophet in Sector 93A of Noida, neighboring the national capital.

A bench of Justices DY Chadrachud and M R Shah - in its 140-page resolution/settlement upholding the April 11, 2014 demolition of the Allahabad High Court - said ‘The record of this case is replete with instances which highlight the collusion between the officers of NOIDA with the appellant and its management.

The top court also mentioned that they are affirming the order of the High Court for authorizing prosecution under provision of Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Act as well as Industrial Area Development Act, against Supertech Limited officials and against the NOIDA officers for violations of the stipulations of laws.

It has been noted by the top court that combined, the twin towers have a total of 915 apartments and 21 shops. As reported by Supertech, out of the 633 people who originally booked flats, 133 have moved to other projects, 252 of the home buyers still have their bookings in place with the company in the project, and 248 people have taken refunds

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The demolition of the twin towers should be carried out in the span of - approximately - three months. This process will be under the supervision of NOIDA as well as an expert agency. The total cost of the entire exercise is mandated to be borne by the company itself, Supertech Ltd. After nearly a decade-long battle against the builder, this news - said by the court - was merrily welcomed by the RWA.

What followed the Supreme Court verdict?

While Mohit Arora, Managing Director of Supertech said that the company will file for a review petition in the Supreme Court, the Noida authority said that they will guarantee full compliance with the demolition order given by the Supreme Court.

Ritu Maheshwari, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of NOIDA, mentioned that their authority will also undertake action against all officials found guilty of breaching regulations in the Supertech case. According to the senior IAS official - who joined the Noida authority as its CEO in July 2019 - these contraventions occurred sometime between 2004 and 2012.

The court further added “Unfortunately, the diverse and unseen group of flat buyers suffers the impact of the unholy nexus between builders and planners. Their quality of life is affected the most. Yet, confronted with the economic might of developers and the might of legal authority wielded by planning bodies, the few who raise their voices have to pursue a long and expensive battle for rights with little certainty of outcomes.”

"As this case demonstrates, they (home buyers) are denied access to information and are victims of misinformation. Hence, the law must step in to protect their legitimate concerns."

Supertech case: the POV of the residents

Approximately 10 years back - in 2012 - the RWA had first taken up its battle against the builder to the Allahabad High Court, which had ordered the destruction of the twin towers - that was still undergoing construction - on April 11, 2014, all the time while maintaining the rights of the residents. Less than a month later, the builder approached the top court, which directed a status quo on the leveling as well as the creation of third-party rights. As stated by the RWA, the project has 660 flats across 15 towers. However, in 2009 when the work started on the twin towers in violation of the building by-laws, they were told that the construction was part of a different project.

SK Sharma, former president of Emerald Court’s RWA mentioned in his statement “We, however, insisted on seeing drawings and approvals of the project which appeared to be huge and against rules stipulating a certain distance between two such structures. After several efforts, we got to see the drawings and were shocked after realizing that we were being taken for a ride by the builder with brazen violation of rules,”. He later mentioned “Truth has prevailed and our faith in the Supreme Court has grown stronger. We had knocked all other doors over the years as we went against the influential builder.”

Another resident of Emerald Court, Rachana Jain said the top court’s order for demolition of these towers came as a victory for all people/residents who stood against wrong being done.

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