KOCHI: The residents of the four apartment complexes are hoping for a favourable final verdict despite the apex court on Monday coming down heavily against the Kerala government for not obeying the court’s order to demolish the four apartment complexes.“Justice Arun Mishra was fully aware of the large-scale CRZ violations across the state. He realised that it is not just the case of five apartments in Maradu alone.
He criticised the Chief Secretary for the lack of clarity in the procedure mentioned in the compliance report and elaborated his point of view on the current scenario in Kerala in the post-flood situation. We are optimistic about a realistic decision in the matter,” said Mathew Kurian, a resident of Alfa Serene, who was present at the SC, told Express over phone from New Delhi.
Expressing a similar opinion, Shamzudeen Karunagapally, president of Holy Faith H2O Residents’ Association said, “We have been informed by our lawyers that we can be hopeful about the verdict. The court has asked to study violation of environmental norms throughout Kerala, giving it a broader perspective.”
Out of the five complexes named by the Supreme Court, one is yet to be constructed. The apartment complexes are: Holy faith H2O (an 18-storey structure, built by Holy faith Builders), Alfa Serene (Twin Towers) - a 16-storey structure built by Alfa Ventures, Jain Coral Cove (16-storey by Jain Housing), Golden Kayaloram (16-storey built by K P Varkey and V S Builders) and Holiday Heritage (Yet to be constructed).
The owners of these four apartment complexes also anticipate a favourable decision from the top court in the light of the curative petition filed by them. “We are expecting a favourable verdict for our curative petition. We are not definite about that, but it is what we hope for,” Jayakumar Vallickavu, a member of H2O Apartments owners association said. “It seems like we have almost reached the end of legal options.
As curative petition is still under consideration of the apex court, we are hopeful of a positive result from the full bench of Supreme Court,” said Issac K, resident of Holyfaith H2O apartment.
hanging in balance
The residents say they were informed by their lawyers to be positive regarding the verdict.
The court has asked to study violation of environmental norms throughout Kerala, giving it a broader perspective