[Maradu flats] Supreme Court directs Kerala government to pay ₹10 lakh to Justice TB Radhakrishnan as committee fees

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Kerala government to pay ₹10 lakh to former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, towards fees for his work as the one-man committee to enquire into the irregularities in Maradu municipality [The Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority vs Maradu Municipality and ors]..A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and CT Ravikumar said that the amount is a token fee for the efforts put in by Justice Radhakrishnan who served as Kerala High Court judge before serving as Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Calcutta High Courts. .The one-member committee, comprising Justice Radhakrishnan, constituted by the Supreme Court to enquire into illegal construction of the now-razed Maradu flats in Kerala had, in July, said that liability to pay compensation to the flat owners is not only on the builders, but also on the State government, and the concerned Municipality and Panchayat.The committee had reasoned that even though the builders were responsible for the illegal construction, the State and other institutions and its officials were responsible for allowing the construction to be carried out until the order for demolition was issued.The report had, however, left it to the Supreme Court to determine the nature of the liability, whether it is to be joint and several, or apportioned.Justice Radhakrishnan had also said that he would leave it to the Supreme Court to fix his fees..The Supreme Court had in May 2019 ordered the removal of all illegal structures built on the notified Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) of the Maradu municipality in Ernakulam district.A review petition was later filed against this judgment by a builder of one of the apartment buildings, arguing that the judgment was based on the incorrect understanding that the constructions are made in areas notified as CRZ III, when in fact they were constructed in compliance with the CRZ norms.However, in September 2019, the top court ordered the Kerala government to pay ₹25 lakh as interim compensation to the affected flat owners, which were to be recovered from the builders and the remainder to be awarded to the flat owners to be evaluated by the Justice Radhakrishnan Committee. The Court later ordered the builders to deposit ₹20 crores with the committee.The Supreme Court also asked the committee to assess the documentary proof of payments made by flat owners to builders after some homebuyers told the Bench that they had paid more than ₹25 lakh to the developers.The report of the committee tabled before the Supreme Court said that officials of the panchayat had issued the building permits, and later failed to issued any stop memo to the builders.The officials were also aware of the CRZ classification and that the area of the now demolished buildings fell in a no development zine as per the relevant notification, the committee found.Consequently, the committee said the liability would be not just on the builder alone.