Allahabad HC orders demolition of two illegal towers in Ghaziabad’s Gulmohar Greens, imposes ₹25 lakh fine: Details
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ordered the demolition of two towers at Gulmohar Greens Residential Society in Ghaziabad, citing illegal construction.
A two-judge bench also ordered the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the project’s promoter for committing several other illegalities in connection with the construction, Bar and Bench reported.
Why did court order the demolition of 2 Gulmohar Greens towers?
The Allahabad High Court has given the authorities two months to raze Towers 27 and 28, as well as the unauthorised ninth and tenth floors in Towers 16 to 19. The two towers contain at least 80 vacant flats. Towers 16 to 19 were approved as eight-storey structures, but two extra floors were added to each, creating 32 flats that remain under construction.
The court ordered the Ghaziabad administration and police to provide security and assistance to the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) to carry out the demolition.
According to Economic Times, the housing project began in 2006, when SVP Builders collaborated with Friends Land Developers to construct Gulmohar Greens in Ghaziabad’s Mohan Nagar. According to reports, the original plan covered 87,930 square metres and proposed the construction of 34 towers, each with a basement and eight storeys, comprising 904 residential units.
However, the project soon faced objections from the Air Force over 4,560 square metres of land, which allegedly belongs to the Defence Ministry. While the GDA cancelled the map approval in 2010, the promoter had already constructed 720 of the proposed 904 units by then.
Separately, residents alleged that the developer modified the original layout without their consent and added 112 units to the project. They further said that common areas of the residential society were encroached upon to create additional space for facilities, including machine rooms and generator rooms.
Court’s ruling
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Chauhan and Saral Srivastava said Ghaziabad Development Authority officials had colluded with the promoter by allowing project deviations to be regularised despite the violations. It also imposed a fine of ₹25 lakh on the promoter, directing that the amount be deposited into the account of the Gulmohar Greens Residents Welfare Association (GGRWA).
The court further ordered a disciplinary inquiry against the then GDA vice-chairperson for dereliction of duty and directed the GDA to pay ₹50,000 each to 11 people who approached the court over several illegalities at the residential society.
The bench said, “We have held above that in the instant case, the Officers of the Ghaziabad Development Authority are also in collusion with the Promoter, and because of their slipshod approach, the petitioners and residents of the Society had to suffer a lot and had to enter into the litigation by incurring substantial expenses; therefore, in such view of the fact, we are of the view that respondent no.2 be directed to pay a cost of Rs.50,000/- to each petitioner.”
According to Economic Times, the court also directed the builder to refund the sale price of common areas to residents of 85 ground-floor apartments, along with construction costs and 10% interest.
The court also set aside the GDA’s third compounding approval issued on December 18, 2024, which had regularised the disputed construction. It said the promoter should face an FIR over alleged fraud, misrepresentation, and violations of the Uttar Pradesh Apartment Act, 2010.
