KOCHI: Bringing temporary relief to builders and nearly 350 residents of the five highrises at Maradu in Kochi slated for demolition, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered status quo for six weeks on its May 8 judgment to demolish the buildings. Hearing a writ petition filed by a group of residents, a Vacation Bench of the apex court directed listing of the matter in the first week of July before the bench, comprising Justice Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha, which issued the demolition order.
The apex court had in May ordered the demolition of five apartment complexes – Holy Faith, Kayaloram, Alfa Ventures, Holiday Heritage and Jain Housing – within a month for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone rules. However, the deadline was not met as the builders and residents had moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of the order.
Maradu municipal chairperson T H Nadeera told ‘Express’ the municipality will now wait for the Supreme Court’s final order to decide on the future course of action. “We will abide by the court’s ruling. We had been waiting for the directions from the state government (on demolishing the buildings),” she said.