Kerala govt informs SC on demolition of apartment complexes in Kochi's Maradu as ordered

The Kerala government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it has complied with its order and demolished four apartment complexes in Kochi's Maradu which were built in violation of coastal regulation zone norms.

A bench of justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah directed the state government to file a report with regard to removal of debris, which also fell in the backwaters.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on February 10.

The court had last month dismissed a plea by some owners of Maradu flats seeking direction to the Attorney General to grant permission to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against the authorities concerned for allegedly misleading the court in the matter.

The apex court had on September 30 last year refused to entertain a plea of flat owners seeking stay on its order to demolish the apartment complexes.

The top court had on September 27 directed demolition of these flats within 138 days, a timeline given by the Kerala government, and had asked the state to pay Rs 25 lakh interim compensation to each flat owner within four weeks.

On November 22, 2019 the top court had agreed to hear in open court the review pleas of some Maradu flat owners seeking appropriate relief from the builders.

The counsel appearing for Kerala government had submitted a status report and said the state had partially complied with the earlier apex court order of demolition of the Maradu flats.

In compliance of the top court's earlier order, the state government has paid Rs 27.99 crore as interim compensation to the Maradu flat owners and it will be paying Rs 33.51 crore more to them, the state's counsel had said.

The top court had then asked the state government to ensure full compliance with its orders, including demolition of the Maradu flats.

On May 8, 2019 the apex court had directed that these buildings be removed within a month as they were constructed in a notified CRZ, which was part of the tidally-influenced water body in Kerala.

It had passed the order after taking note of a report of a committee, which had stated that when the buildings were built, the area was already notified as a CRZ and construction was prohibited.