NEW DELHI/KOCHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Arun Mishra, whose Bench passed a judgment to demolish five apartment complexes at Maradu near Kochi, pulled up the residents of one of them on Friday for approaching another Bench to obtain a stay on the earlier order.
Residents of Alfa Ventures had approached the vacation Bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee for getting a stay, complaining they were not heard by Justice Mishra-headed Bench before passing the demolition order.
In its May 8 order, the Supreme Court had ordered the authorities to demolish five apartment complexes — Holy Faith, Golden Kayaloram, Alfa Ventures, Holiday Heritage and Jain Housing — in Maradu Municipality within a month as they were constructed in the notified Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). The five complexes together have 400 flats.
Justice Mishra called the act of the residents an “absolute fraud” committed on the court.“During the vacation, the matter was mentioned before me, but I refused to hear it. Then it came before another vacation Bench. It shouldn’t have passed the order. You (lawyers) are permitting the court to commit judicial impropriety,” the Bench told senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, who appeared for the petitioners. The plea was withdrawn later.
People associated with Alfa Ventures could not be reached despite repeated attempts. When contacted, Maradu Municipality Secretary P K Subhash said: “The Supreme Court is not happy with the residents’ latest move to approach the new Bench. I can’t comment more on the issue. We’re waiting for the government’s directive in this regard.”
Supreme Court to consider Golden Kayaloram’s review plea on July 9
The apex court is slated to take up the review plea filed by residents of Golden Kayaloram on July 9, its residents’ association president C M Varghese said. “We believe we’ve been denied justice. Golden Kayaloram had obtained the no-objection certificate in 1995 while the CRZ plan was outlined only in 1996. The Supreme Court gave the verdict even without hearing us. We haven’t violated the CRZ norms. There are a road and canal beside our flats,” said Varghese. He said Golden Kayaloram would file a curative writ petition if the court dismisses the review plea.