Supertech case: Lawyer Anish Agarwal says it is a massive victory for residents

Noida: On August 31, a Supreme Court bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah, upheld the Allahabad High Court 2014 verdict for the demolition of the 40-storey twin-tower building project of  Supertech Limited's Emerald Court project.

Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah ordered that the demolition needs to be completed within three months and the builder has to bear the expenses for the same. CitySpidey talked to the prosecuting lawyer Anish Agarwal regarding the same.

Agarwal shared, “The victory on this case is massive for the residents. Senior citizens are involved in this case who fought for the last 10 years after their retirement. This is a victory of residents and a good landmark judgment by the bench of justices. There are many legal issues which are now settled by the Supreme Court.”

While addressing his views on the collusion between the authority and the builder, Agarwal shared that the collusion between authority and the builder is from the very start. “As per law, the builder has to hand over the sanctioned plan to the buyers or residents but it never happened,” he added.

He further said, “Builder started the construction of the tower without consulting with the residents.  He added more flats in their sanctioned plan, encroached the green area and the authority passed the maps without thinking once. The builder started the construction of the building before passing the sanctioned plan. In 2009, the sanctioned plan had 24 floors and in 2012, it increased into 40 floors.”

Agarwal emphasised that the foundation of any building is very important and how could a foundation of 24 floors sustain 40 floors. He added, “The builder said that they are planning for 40 floors from the starting, so it will sustain.”

Agarwal shared that the residents requested the builder for the sanctioned plan and they also went to the authorities for this, but the result was the same. In 2013, residents got sanctioned plan after the decision of Allahabad High Court.

Supertech also filed a review petition on the order of the Supreme Court, on which Agarwal said, “In the history, the result of the  review petition is not successful and due to the review petition, the  decision of the court will not stay.”

He shared, “Approximately 600 flats were sold by the Supertech and 250 residents don’t demand the refund and demanded the flats. There were special cases in which the court also considered them. SC gave the opportunity to residents many times and the court said that the money will be refunded within two months with interest.”

Agarwal also shared valuable key points for buyers while purchasing a flat. He said, “If any group or builder wants to make a project so they have to approach RERA and there is much paperwork for them. And now authority and the builder has to upload the maps of the particular project on their website. If anyone  wants to invest his or her money so they will check first on the website of RERA.”

He added, “RERA is to help the buyers and there is a complain mechanism in the RERA in which buyers can raise their issues. In which, Maharashtra RERA is developing quickly.”

Watch the full video here.