Pune Civil Court Orders To Bring Down A 22 Storey Building.

Senior Division of Pune Civil court-ordered Clover builders to knock down 2 of its 22 storey buildings developed in Clover Highlands co-operative society in Kondhwa.

Nine residents of the society had filed a complaint in Pune Civil court in 2018 stating that, when the society was handed over to them, the 2 buildings were not a part of the plan. They took a sigh of relief when the court ordered the buildings to be knocked down considering it an illegal construction.

The judge passed a detailed 95-page judgment canceling all the revised plans that were sanctioned after the society was handed over in 2007 and stated that they were ‘void ab Initio which means that they are to be treated invalid from the onset.

Judge SMA Sayyed also ordered Clover developers to demolish the two, 22 story buildings that they had illegally constructed. Apart from the adjacent Everjoy co-operative society was also advised not to continue construction of its building 8 and building 9 which were already in dispute.

This is considered a landmark judgment to curb the malpractices carried on by the developers.

Court has given a timeline of 4 months to clover developers to demolish the 2 buildings. If they fail to do so the complainants have the right to demolish the structure. By doing this, they can recover the cost from the accused i.e clover developers.

The Pune Civil court has also ordered the developers and adjacent society to pay a sum of Rs. 5 Lakh to the complainants as compensation for harassment and mental agony.

Rakhee Sachdev who was one of the 9 residents who complained against clover developers said “ The verdict gave us extreme strength and courage. The fact that the judiciary agrees with us has charged us up. This is our home, and we will fight tooth and nail to protect it. When one buys a house, there is a lot of trusts involved in the builder. With the new constructions and other issues, this trust was broken for us. The society was handed over to us 14 years ago and we are still waiting for the conveyance. It got stressful and frustrating, but we are glad the verdict is in our favor.”

According to the complainants their consent was not taken to develop the 2 buildings. As is required under section 7 of Maharashtra ownership flat act of 1963. They only came to know about it when the work was half done in Feb 2018. As that area was dedicated to a car park they were under the impression that the developers are building a 2 story car park from them.

The residents also mentioned that the developers changed the layout several times after handing over to the society. However, the accused defended themselves stating that the members of the society were aware and their consent was taken.

The court replied to it stating any change in layout prior to handing over to the society is accepted. However, post handing over the society any change in the plan is deemed to be illegal. Anything that is illegal will always remain illegal. It does not require sanction or approval since it is illegal.

“We are optimistic for the future. It is important that litigants know their rights, so they can seek justice in the correct way. We followed procedure and have approached the High Court and Supreme Court as well during this case, and will do so again if needed,”

——Adv. Lalit Jhunjunwala. Representing the plaintiff

According to Adv. Kiran Wagaj who is representing the accused stated that the residents of the society were made aware of this construction. Also, it is a phase-wise development so the phase in which the 9 residents are residing has nothing to do with the second phase and hence the residents have no right to complain. She also stated that they have documents proving that they had informed the residents via a general body meeting.