Supreme Court extends deadline till 28 August for demolition of twin 40-storey towers of Supertech in Noida

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday extended till 28 August the deadline for demolition of Supertech’s twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald project in Noida, which have been held as illegal for a violation of norms. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha passed the order on an application filed by Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) seeking an extension of the timeline of 22 May by three months till 28 August after the agency appointed for demolition Edifice Engineering sought time. “In view of the expert opinion, time for completing the work of demolition is extended until 28 August, 2022. A status report shall be filed by NOIDA after convening a meeting of all stakeholders on the steps which are being taken between the date of this order and a week prior to the next date of listing”, the bench said and listed the matter for further hearing on 29 July. Counsel appearing for IRP for Supertech said that after the test blast conducted by the Edifice Engineering it was found that the structure was stronger and stable than it was expected. Amicus curiae advocate Gaurav Agrawal also supported the application and said that even agency CBRI (Central Building Research Institute) which has been appointed by the top court to oversee the demolition exercise has also approved the extension of time.

Agrawal said that the twin towers are in close proximity to the residential buildings and therefore extra caution needs to be maintained so that debris does not cause damage to them. “Had it been an open ground, then the towers could have been simply brought down”, he said and urged the court to grant an extension of the time. The bench after considering the application and submission of amicus passed the order directing to complete the demolition of both the towers by 28 August and sought a status report. It also noted that the Director, CBRI, by communication dated May 11, 2022, has also indicated that the work of final demolition may be carried out by 28 August, 2022. “The status report submitted by NOIDA, inter alia, indicates that Edifice Engineering carried out a test blast, upon which it has redesigned the final building blast designs. It has been stated that it may not be possible to demolish the entire structure finally by 22 May, 2022, and time would be required until August 2022”, it noted. The bench was informed by advocate Ravindra Kumar, appearing for Noida, that till now they have completed 49 per cent of the demolition work and the agency responsible for demolition has sought three more months to completely raze the buildings. On 28 February, the NOIDA authority informed the top court that the work for the demolition of realty major Supertech’s twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald Court project, which have been held as illegal for a violation of norms, has commenced and will be razed completely by 22 May.

The authority had in its earlier status report said that after the demolition of these massive structures, the entire debris will be cleared of the site by 22 August. Earlier, the erstwhile management of the real estate firm Supertech Ltd informed the top court that it had filed an appeal before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) challenging 25 March, 2022, by which a corporate insolvency resolution process has been initiated against the company. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had declared it bankrupt on a plea filed by the Union Bank of India for non-payment of around Rs 432 crore worth of dues. On 7 February, the top court had directed the authorities to commence within two weeks the demolition of the twin towers. It had directed the NOIDA CEO to convene a meeting within 72 hours in which all the agencies concerned shall be present to finalise the schedule for demolition. On 12 January, the top court had pulled up the builder for not complying with its orders to demolish the twin 40-story towers in sector 93 of NOIDA and warned that its directors will be sent to jail for “playing truant with the court”. On 31 August last year, the top court had ordered the demolition of Supertech Ltd’s twin 40-storey towers under construction within three months for violation of building norms in “collusion” with NOIDA officials, holding that illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to ensure compliance with the rule of law. The NOIDA authority had received a rap on its knuckles as the top court pointed out multiple incidents of collusion of its officials with the Supertech Ltd in the Emerald Court project and violations of norms by the realty major in the construction of the twin towers. The top court had directed that the entire amount of home buyers be refunded with 12 percent interest from the time of the booking and the RWA of Emerald Court project be paid Rs 2 crore for the harassment caused due to the construction of the twin towers, which would have blocked sunlight and fresh air to the existing residents of the housing project adjoining the national capital.

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