Kerala HC: Supreme Court order a wake-up call for violators of CRZ norms
KOCHI: The High Court on Tuesday observed that the Supreme Court (SC) order to demolish Maradu flats was a wake-up call for the violators of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.“Builders construct buildings on Coastal Regulation Zones as they please and then approach the authorities and get them regularised,” Justice Devan Ramachandran observed while dismissing the petitions filed by two flat owners challenging the eviction notice issued by Maradu municipality.
The court held that the petitions could not be entertained as the apex court had made it clear no petitions relating to Maradu flats shall be entertained by any other court. It said the petitioners could approach the SC challenging the eviction notices as the latter were issued based on the top court’s directive. The Maradu municipality submitted it was bound to implement the SC directive, which was why it had issued the eviction notices.
“However, when the officials reached the apartment premises, some flat owners prevented them from entering the complex for handing over the notices following which, the officials pasted the notices on the apartment’s wall,” the municipality submitted.
The petitioners had said the municipality did not follow basic principles of natural justice which say that the petitioner and other similarly-placed residents should have been served with a show-cause notice as contemplated under the Kerala Municipality Building Rules, 1999, before being served eviction orders and should have been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.