The illegally-constructed Adarsh Society tower in the posh Mumbai locality of Colaba was spared demolition after the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to take charge of the building and ensure it is not razed till its residents continue with their legal battle to secure their property.
The 31-storey residential complex, meant for Kargil war heroes and war widows constructed on Defence land was served with a demolition notice by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India in January 2011 after it was noticed that the project did not have a coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearance for being situated on the coastal area. Allottees of the Adarsh society have challenged this order before the Bombay High Court, even as the HC has ordered disconnection of electricity and water supply to the tainted flats.
For the hapless residents living under the constant fear of the hammer, the order by the apex court came as a major reprieve. The bench of Justices J Chelameswar and AM Sapre directed the Centre to take possession of the society before August 5 and asked the Centre to “secure” the structure against possible demolition action.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar who appeared for the Centre assured the court, “We will secure the building and the land and there will be no demolition.”
The court further asked the Registrar General of the Bombay High Court to ensure that he or his nominee shall supervise the handing over of the possession of the building. Meanwhile, the residents were allowed to maintain the inventory of documents of the Society in order to pursue the pending legal battle in various courts of law.
The society owners had approached apex court expecting stay of HC’s order directing demolition of the building. The High Court, while ordering demolition on April 29, 2016 had stayed the operation its order for 12 weeks for enabling the residents to appeal to the apex court. The order was significant as the HC even asked the Centre and the Maharashtra Government to consider initiating civil and criminal proceedings against bureaucrats, Ministers and politicians for alleged acts of corruption in granting clearances to the Adarsh Society, where instead of war heroes and war widows, Ministers, bureaucrats and other influential persons secured homes.
The Adarsh scam as it later came to be known generated political heat in the state as it led to the resignation of the then Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. In February 2016, the Maharashtra Governor accorded sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute Chavan in connection with this case following a judicial enquiry commission that submitted incriminating details against him.