The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has assured homeowners of Sobha City that the cancellation of Occupancy Certificate (OC) would be revoked after the proper documents were submitted. On Saturday, January 21, BBMP revoked the OC occupancy certificate for the apartment complex located on Thanisandra main road in east Bengaluru. The builders were found to have forged documents that were prerequisites to getting an OC. The apartment complex is said to have around 2,000 flats.
The issue came to the fore after one of the apartment owners, Srinivas Rao Talla, complained to the BBMP. Speaking to TNM, Anil Kalgi, the president of the Bangalore City Flat Owners Association, said that Sobha had refused to provide important documents to the association. After an RTI (right to information) request, it was revealed that a No Objection Certificate (NOC), which is issued by the Fire and Emergency Services Department after a building meets fire safety regulations, was forged.
In July 2022, Bharathi Nagar police booked an assistant manager at Sobha Limited for forging the NOC, after the Fire Department had probed an issue. The assistant manager had allegedly been tasked with getting the NOC, but had instead forged the document. According to The Hindu, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said that the first OC issued earlier was cancelled since the wrong documents were submitted and a fresh OC would be issued if the proper documents were submitted. He also said that BBMP would be taking action against the person who submitted the forged documents.
A statement issued by Shobha Limited on Monday said, “This action of BBMP has been taken pertaining to certain Fire NOC and Fire Clearance documentation submitted earlier. Sobha Limited took immediate and all remedial steps in consultation with the Fire Department to comply with necessary regulations to obtain renewed approvals. Working with BBMP, who already have resubmitted documents, we are sure we will resolve this issue at the earliest.
Giving a warning to future homeowners, Anil Kalgi said, “People cannot take the builders at face value, however big or small they are. They need to cross-verify documents and be aware of the important authorities and statutory associations.”