Bank Manager in Soup After Raising 6 Apartments Violating Approved Plan
CHENNAI: A manager of a nationalised bank, who built six apartments in Neelankarai in violation of approved plans, faces contempt of court proceedings even as the Madras High Court ordered that the building be demolished.
Banker P Devaraji’s misadventure began in 2011 when he started construction work on Plot No 448 in deviation of the approved plan for putting up a structure with a built-up area of 2,148 sq ft. Over the next year, his neighbour R Vadivelu noticed the deviations.
In Neelankarai, plot owners are permitted to construct only ground plus one structure, with a view to preserve groundwater recharge. But Devaraji appeared to be constructing a multi-unit apartment complex.
Vadivelu and another local resident Gopalakrishnan complained to the Chennai Corporation Executive Engineer about the violations, prompting the civic official to seal the under-construction building in June 2012.
It was then that Devaraji committed another folly. He moved the Madras High Court challenging the sealing of his premises. During the course of arguments, he assured the court that he would demolish the unauthorised portion and restore the building as per the approved plan. However, instead of demolishing the illegal construction, over the course of the next two years he raised a four-storeyed structure with six apartments.
Vadivelu and Gopalakrishnan then moved the court through their counsel V Suresh and secured a special permission to file a contempt of court petition against Devaraji. The first bench, which heard the petition, was aghast at the nature of violation. The judges were then informed by the Advocate General, representing the Chennai Corporation, that the entire building would be razed within the next four weeks. The law officer also submitted that an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the complicity of civic officials in aiding the violation.