The historic apex court twin tower demolition order had actually come towards the end of August 2021. The media could lay hands on the documentary evidence on September 1, 2021, exactly one calendar year ago.
In 2009, four residents went against the builder company Supertech's plan for twin towers coming up in violation of building bye-laws. These crusaders formed a core legal committee comprising UBS Teotia (80), SK Sharma (74), Ravi Bajaj (65) and MK Jain (60).
In 2012, the corrupt Noida authorities reviewed the new plan and permitted the towers to rise up to 40 floors. The elderly fighters won the first case as the Allahabad High Court ordered demolition. The property developer Supertech company appealed to the Supreme Court to have the order overturned. Little did they expect the four retired, elderly, physically weak without much money on them would be able to match them on any score at the apex court. The company had loads of disposable money, enormous official backing and top lawyers that routinely overwhelm judges to snatch fantastically favourable orders were at work.
Earlier while the High Court hearings were on, the Good Samaritans would beg money from the fellow residents to travel in unreserved, ordinary class train coaches, live in godforsaken locations of Allahabad to organise hearing dates at the High Court and remain present during the argument sessions to ensure their last penny didn’t go waste. The builders lost heavily despite splurging money on lawyers and elsewhere. The court ordered demolition of the huge towers. They went in an appeal at the Supreme Court, which too heard both sides well and felt absolutely convinced to uphold the HC order. Among the several violations of the building bylaws cited by the petitioners, the court was particularly furious over the horrific flouting of the minimum distance norm. The fast-coming up towers would impact ventilation, sunlight and response to emergency situations for the residents of the other 15 towers. The intolerably tall towers did not maintain the mandatory 16-meter safety distance between the towers. That enraged the court to bring the axe down.
The relentless pursuit of justice across a decade by the group of four senior citizens brought them grand victory after a decade-long battle, which normally ends in victory of the offenders due to money power, manipulations and official man management apart from political clout. The twin tower demolition victory was possible only because the four senior citizens had taken up the battle on a mission mode. The entire battle actually lasted a full 12 years.
Way back in 2009, the four heroic residents had gone against the Supertech's plan for the unlawfully-planned twin towers, mainly in violation of the building bylaws. So, they formed a core legal committee that moved the Allahabad HC. UBS Teotia, SK Sharma, Ravi Bajaj and MK Jain are now national heroes for having brought down a colossal business house to its knees. Most sadly, MK Jain, the youngest among the crusaders, did not live to witness the dramatic demolition event as Covid had claimed him early this year. But fortunately, he had enjoyed the victory verdict before the unexpected demise. Bajaj too resigned from the core group even after the victory verdict, showing restlessness and feeling kind of scared only months earlier. People suspect he was intimidated by some very powerful elements who may have asked him to keep off or face consequences. Bajaj cited very difficult personal reasons for leaving the core body of crusaders. All the same, SK Sharma, the most aggressive among the fighters, who is a retired DGM of the Telecom Department, also expresses immeasurable gratitude to the lawyers Jayant Bhooshan and Aneesh Agrawal for skilfully presenting the case in courts against highly-reputed, expensive, king-size advocates engaged by the builder company. Thirty hearings had happened over a period of seven years in the Supreme Court alone. Teotia, who turned 80 on August 30, said the legal and related expenses cost them about Ra 1 crore, for which they had to go door to door for donations from society members. The senior citizens had left no stone unturned. From following case details, gathering documents from odd places and people and keeping the team spirited across years was an enormously challenging task. They had recognised wrongdoing in 2009. But preparing for the battle with documents and proof took away three long years. On several occasions, mainly at critical junctures, some of them would say, “We can’t go any further. We have hit the end of the road.” But Sharma and Tetotia would not give up. They would hammer courage and strength by promising victory as the weapons were already in hand, the indisputable pieces of evidence. Every date of hearing at the Allahabad HC, t least two of them would attend, no matter what came in the way.
The battle story is over. What happened on the demolition day is common knowledge. As much as 3,700 kg of super quality explosives including RDX were used to raze the towers implosively to garbage-grade dust and rubble forming the least desired mound of debris ever known to big city dwellers. It will take three months to see the original ground. All this disaster later, the Supertech boss says the company remains cool and composed and all the other projects are in full swing as usual. The Rs 500-crore loss is part of business life.
The best message the people have got is that the Indian judiciary is truly efficient and obviously above board. The most hurtful conclusion is that youths of today are a horribly spineless lot. They have brittle spines and the brain is perpetually engaged in finding ways to attain pleasure the easy way. Physically, mentally and, to a great extent, intellectually, the young people of today are a degenerate community with minds of vegetables. In the twin tower battle, no one below 40 was as aggressive as the elderly struggling physically and mentally to make things happen. The young are only to consume the fruits of unspeakable hard labour. That’s a big pity!