Kozhikode: The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has issued a notice to demolish the house of KM Shaji, an MLA, in Maloorkunnu for violating the permit conditions. The house is in the name of Shaji's wife.
The notice stated that the construction permit had not been renewed and that the size of the constructed house was larger than what was allowed in the original permit. Shaji has been given 12 days to respond to the notice with an explanation.
The construction can be regularised by submitting an application along with the revised plan and by paying a fine.
The violation of the permit was discovered during an inspection conducted by the Corporation as per the instructions of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of its investigations to determine the assets of the MLA.
The permit issued by the corporation to build the house expired in 2016. Even though there is a provision to renew the permit twice for six more years, the MLA did not apply for it.
The permit allowed building a 3,200-square-foot home, but the Corporation says the one constructed by the MLA had an area of 5,260 square feet.
He had not submitted the completion certificate to the Corporation and neither did he obtain the occupancy certificate or the building number. He had applied for the building number in 2016 but the application was rejected as the revised plan for the construction was not submitted.
However, KM Shaji said that the completion certificate was not submitted as the work on the house is not yet over. There has been no illegal construction.
The site was in a buffer zone when the house was being built. That’s why the earlier plan was to build 3,000 square feet. But later the area was increased when the site was excluded from the buffer zone.
Not getting the permit renewed was a lapse on his part, he admitted. Shaji said an application has been filed to regularise the construction.
Meanwhile, the house in Shaji’s wife’s name in Kannur’s Chirakkal panchayat was also surveyed by panchayat officials as per the instructions of the ED.
A report will be submitted to the ED on October 27 with the appraised value of both the houses.
The ED is investigating a complaint that Shaji took a bribe to permit Plus Two at Kannur Azhikode High School. Shaji, a native of Wayanad, is the Muslim League MLA from the Azhikode constituency.
