High Court orders complete demolition of apartment block in Yelahanka

Bengaluru : A builder firm has been forced to demolish an entire block of flats after it built a single floor in violation of the plan. This is a warning to other builders who have violated the rules.

A single-judge bench headed by Justice Suraj Govindaraj has issued a significant interim order in a case filed by M/s Sharif Constructions in the city in 2013. The entire building of Block A of Platinum City in Peenya has been ordered to be demolished due to the builder not complying with the court’s previous orders. The BDA commissioner has been directed to submit a demolition action plan in this regard within two weeks.

The court, after hearing the arguments, issued the following order. ‘’The petitioner had violated the approved plan and later gave an undertaking that he would demolish the illegal floor himself. Now, they have raised a new issue that if the top floor is removed, the stability of the entire block will be affected.

The petitioner was allowed to remove the top floor in order to save the other floors. But the petitioner’s argument that it cannot be removed now is not acceptable. Therefore, the entire block building will have to be removed,’’ the court said.

The entire block building has had to be removed because of the petitioner. Therefore, the petitioner should compensate the flat buyers for any loss. The builder is liable for the inconvenience caused to the flat buyers or residents,’’ the court said. It also ordered that the BDA Commissioner should prepare a plan to carry out the removal of the entire block as per the rules.

Meanwhile, the BDA’s lawyers said that they would prepare a removal plan within two weeks, call for its tender, allocate it within a week and submit details to the court about the subsequent developments. The court will take up the hearing of the petition again on December 11.

The petition has been pending since 2013. The petitioners are deliberately following the delay tactic. The court has also given ample opportunity to the petitioners. Many people have bought the flats illegally constructed by the petitioners. They will also face problems, the bench said.

Sharif Builders had built a residential complex in the name of Platinum City, consisting of several blocks from ‘A’ to ‘G’, at Survey No. 47 and 48 of Peenya village in Yeshwantpur hobli. The company had approached the High Court seeking a direction to issue a possession letter to the BDA. When those residential complexes were inspected, it was found that one of the upper floors in ‘A’ block had been constructed illegally.

A swimming pool had also been constructed on that unauthorized top floor. After examining all the factors, the court ordered the vacating of that one floor. The petitioners also agreed to it.

However, they later said that if that floor is removed, it will cause instability to the entire block. In addition, it will also cause problems to the neighbouring block. However, the court did not accept any of these reasons and issued an order to remove the entire block.