BENGALURU: The High Court on Thursday directed a builder, My Symbiosis Residences (MSR), to deposit Rs 3 lakh with the Registrar General of the court within two weeks for misleading a civil court by concealing facts. The deposit is also to ensure that the builder complies with further directions of the court promptly.
Hearing a petition filed by Gurupriya Apartments Condominium, who had complained against the illegal construction raised by MSR in Chamarajpet, Justice Vineet Kothari also asked MSR to show cause why the deposit should not be paid considering costs to be paid as compensation to the petitioner or to the Legal Services Authority.
The petitioner’s counsel contended that on the directions of the court on July 18, 2016, the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal (KAT) on September 19, 2016 referred the matter back to the BBMP Executive Engineer, Chamarajpet Sub-Division, to expeditiously complete the proceedings under Section 321 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, against the alleged deviated construction being raised by MSR.
Instead of approaching the BBMP and getting the issue sorted out within four months as stipulated given by KAT, MSR filed a fresh suit before civil court, presumably concealing these facts. Therefore, the civil court even passed an ex parte temporary injunction order on November 22, 2016 in its favour. Therefore, the counsel for BBMP said the civic body could not take any further action against MSR in view of temporary injunction order, the judge said.
The counsel for MSR, on being questioned by the court, could not justify filing a civil suit in the matter instead of attending the proceedings before BBMP in pursuance of the order passed by KAT. Therefore, prima facie, the judge was of the opinion that MSR’s act amounted to abuse of the process of law.
Instead of submitting in the enquiry before the BBMP authorities, MSR chose to adopt a parallel civil suit proceedings and the civil court was kept in the dark and misled to pass the temporary injunction order in the matter, the judge said.