SC refuses to entertain fresh plea of Supertech to extend time to demolish twin towers

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday dismissed a fresh plea of realty major Supertech Ltd seeking extension of time for payment of compensation to home buyers and demolition of
twin towers in its Emerald Court Project in Noida as directed by the court saying that its application cannot be entertained in view of its verdict.A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna said that it cannot
entertain miscellaneous applications after the judgement is delivered and cannot give an extension of any kind. “You have to pay them. We cannot entertain a miscellaneous application after the

Senior advocate Parag Tripathi, appearing for Supertech Ltd, said that even he is not satisfied with the way the petition was drafted and sought a hearing of the matter after the Diwali break.
He said they need some time to execute the directions of the court on demolition and payment of compensation to home buyers. The bench said that the company will have to pay the amount as mentioned in the
order. In October the top court had refused to modify its directive to demolish the twin 40-story towers in Noida for violation of norms and dismissed an application of Supertech Ltd seeking to save one tower and partially demolish 224 units in the
other to conform with building by-laws. The top court said that a grant of such relief is akin to reviewing the judgements of this court and such an attempt is impermissible in a miscellaneous application filed
by the realty firm. It had said that the judgement of this court dated August 31, has specifically affirmed the direction issued by the division bench of Allahabad High Court for demolition of T-16 and T-17 of the Emerald Court Project which is evident from the
ultimate conclusions contained in the judgement. The top court had said that in successive decisions, this court has held that the filing of an application styled as ‘Miscellaneous Application’ or application for

“The attempt in the Miscellaneous Application is clearly to seek a substantive modification of the judgement of this court. Such an attempt is not permissible in Miscellaneous Application”, the bench had said, adding “For the above reason,
there is no substance in the Miscellaneous Application. The Miscellaneous Application is accordingly dismissed”. On August 31, the top court had ordered the demolition of Supertech Ltd’s twin
40-story towers under construction within three months for violation of building norms in “collusion” with NOIDA officials, holding that illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to ensure compliance with the rule of law.

The apex court directed that the entire amount of home buyers be refunded with 12 per cent interest from the time of the booking and the Residents Welfare Association be paid Rs two crore for the harassment caused due to the
construction of the twin towers. The Noida authority had received a rap on its knuckles as the top court pointed out multiple incidents of collusion of its officials with the Supertech Ltd in the
Emerald Court project and violations of norms by the realty major in the construction of the twin towers. The top court had noted that the two towers together have 915 apartments and 21
shops. According to Supertech data given to the court earlier, of the 633 people who booked the flats initially, 133 have moved out to other projects, 248 have taken refunds and 252 home buyers still have bookings with the company in the project.