New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Kerala government to give the full interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh to all flat owners in the four soon-to-be demolished apartments Maradu in Kerala's Ernakulam district.
The directive was issued after the flat owners brought the 'anomalies' in the compensation distribution before the court.
A Supreme Court-appointed panel, headed by Justice K Balakrishnan Nair, recommended compensation amount on the basis of the price of property mentioned in the sale deed. The Friday's court order has eventually nullified this procedure.
The Kerala government has so far allotted an amount of Rs 6.15 crore to pay compensation to the owners of 34 flats at Maradu.
The panel has recommended a payout of Rs 19.09 crore to 107 flat owners.
Builders to deposit Rs 20 crore
On Friday, the bench of justices Arun Mishra and S Ravindra Bhat asked the builders of Maradu flat to deposit Rs 20 crore within one month with the court-appointed committee.
The top court said the attached bank account of the builders will be detached for depositing Rs 20 crore with the committee.
The bench also asked builders to submit their banking details on affidavit with the court.
It rejected a prayer of builder association Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) that the Maradu flats be not demolished and put to some other use.
"We are not going back from our demolition orders. This matter can't be agitated afresh. Our order is final," the bench said while rejecting the plea of CREDAI.
The top court also asked the one-member 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 Rs 25 lakh to the developers.
The Kerala government also informed the court that they have till now disbursed over Rs 10 crore as interim compensation to flat owners.
The four apartment complexes, which will be pulled down soon to comply with an apex court order over violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms comprise 343 flats.
Maradu flat owners' reaction
“We appreciate the Supreme Court's move to bring clarity to the interim compensation allotment. In fact, the apex court hadn't laid any condition for the allotment of Rs 25 lakhs. It was Justice (retired) Balakrishnan Nair committee that brought in unnecessary complications. Everything is clear now, thanks to Justice Arun Mishra,” said CM Varghese of the Golden Kayaloram apartments.
“It is futile to try and ascertain a property's value by cross-checking prior title deed and the current one, and calculate the percentage of interim compensation per person. Though I belong to the 13 flat owners who received the maximum compensation amount of Rs 25 lakhs on time, my neighbors were settling for meager amounts of Rs 10 lakhs and 12 lakhs after investing almost five times the amount,” said Suresh Kumar from Jains Coral Cove.
“We are busy calling each other and sharing our happiness on the new order. We are also hopeful of retaining our capital investment through an unbiased final settlement,” he added.
Meanwhile, some flat owners expressed their unhapiness with the entire process.
Adv Antony Ettukettil of H20 Holy Faith said that he wasn't thrilled by the news as he and many others feared that they'll have to settle down with this interim compensation.
“How are the builders going to pay such a huge amount? Have the court mentioned it clearly on what to do if a particular builder doesn't have enough wealth to pay the fine? I don't know the case of Jain Housing or Golden Kayaloram but the Holy Faith builder might not be able to settle the fine. There is no use of fighting a case against Holy Faith builder,” he argued.
(With inputs from PTI)
