KOCHI: After the bid to obtain a stay on demolition of four apartment complexes at Maradu here from a Supreme Court Vacation Bench backfired, the affected flat owners are now awaiting the outcome of the batch of petitions, which will come up before the apex court on Tuesday. On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Arun Mishra, whose Bench passed the May 8 order for razing flats numbering over 400, blasted the flat owners’ attempts to stay the order on the sly, by pitting one Bench against another.
Sany Francis, a petitioner with Holy Faith H2O, which is among the four facing demolition, told Express their petitions have been included in the likely-to-be considered list of the apex court. “We expect the review petitions filed by flat owners’ associations in all the four apartment complexes to be taken up on Tuesday. Since Justice Arun Mishra is known as a stickler for rules, he is likely to pronounce a verdict favourable to us. Even if the apex court directs the authorities to go ahead with the demolition, we will fully comply with it,” he said.
Similarly, an apartment owner at Golden Kayaloram said the Supreme Court should consider the flat owners’ plea on humanitarian grounds.
“As tax payers, we have a constitutional right to shelter. If the apex court dismisses the petition, around 400 families will be rendered homeless. The court should also consider the residents’ plight,” he said.
According to him, if the Supreme Court is firm on demolition, the apartment owners will start round two of the legal fight to get the apartments built in the same area in compliance with the Coastal Regulation Zone(CRZ) norms.
“As per the new CRZ norms, we can construct buildings outside a 20 m-radius of the lake. We will explore other legal options to construct new apartments in the area,” he added.
Meanwhile, an IIT-Madras team last week visited the H2O Holy Faith apartment complex to study the demolition’s environmental fallout. However, they did not visit the other three apartment complexes, Golden Kayaloram, Alfa Serene and Jain Coral Cove, in the area.