[Twin Tower Demolition] Make payment to homebuyers or face consequences: Supreme Court to Supertech

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Supertech builders to make payments to those who had bought flats in Noida's 'twin towers' now facing demolition, or face serious consequences [Supertech v Emerald Court Owner's Welfare Association]..A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna ordered that the payments be made by Monday next week (January 17)."You cannot charge interest on ROI. You're finding all kinds of reasons to not comply with the court's orders. Make sure the payments are made by Monday or there will be serious consequences," a Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna stated.The homebuyers alleged that Supertech had invited them to collect the amount due but found that the same will be made in installments with deductions, contrary to instructions of the top court.This did not find favour with the Court which asked the builder to make payments by Monday.The Supreme Court had, in August last year, upheld a 2014 verdict of the Allahabad High Court directing the demolition of the 40-storey twin tower building of Supertech Limited. It ordered that the demolition of the twin towers be completed within three months at the builder's expense.The Court had also ordered that all the flat-owners in the twin towers be reimbursed with 12 per cent interest and upheld the High Court's direction of sanction to errant officials concerned..Supertech in September again moved the Supreme Court, seeking modification of the said order to the extent that only one tower be demolished. They said this would ensure compliance of the norms earlier held as being violated and save crores of rupees.They sough an interim stay on the demolition till the matter is adjudicated, to have a positive impact on the environment.Their plea seeking modification was dismissed by the top court in October, as it was found that the prayers were in the nature of a review petition even as the demolition was ordered not merely because of compliance norms but other violations too..Supertech has now proposed hiring a third agency for the purposes of demolition, so the same can be carried out without objection. The Bench asked the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) to finalise the name of the agency which would be tasked with the demolition of the towers, referred to as the Supertech Emerald Court Housing Project..The matter will be heard again on January 17.