Addressing the concerns raised by evicted residents of four apartment buildings at Maradu in Kochi regarding compensation, the Supreme Court on Friday stated that each flat owner should be given Rs 25 lakh each as interim compensation. The four apartment buildings are set to be demolished soon as the Supreme Court had found that they were constructed in violation of environmental laws.
Supreme Court stated this while considering a writ petition filed by a section of residents stating that they have not been allotted Rs 25 lakhs as interim relief, though it was ordered by the court before.
The SC appointed panel headed by Justice Balakrishnan Nair, that was to fix and oversee compensation given to the flat owners, had earlier stated that not all families will be given Rs 25 lakhs as interim recompense. Only those apartments which had building value of or above Rs 25 lakhs were to be given that amount as temporary recompense.
Interim compensation was recommended by the panel to the government for 157 evicted flat owners based on this. Among this only 18 flat owners were recommended a temporary relief of Rs 25 lakhs, the rest were allotted lower amounts corresponding to the building value of their apartments. Based on this, the state government on Monday had sanctioned Rs 6.98 crores for 38 flat owners.
With the Supreme Court now making it clear that all evicted families are eligible for Rs 25 lakhs as interim recompense, the government has to allot this amount to the residents.
Meanwhile, the apex court also ordered that builders of the four apartment buildings – Alfa Serene, Golden Kayaloram, Jains Coral Cove and H2O Holy Faith – should pay a deposit of Rs 20 crores at the court. The court did not specify any date within which this amount should be deposited. But SC directed to remove the freeze imposed on bank accounts of the builders. The move is probably to facilitate the builders to pay the deposit amount. The court has also directed government to present details of the bank accounts of the builders.
Judge Arun Mishra who was hearing the case also appeared irritated at some of the residents who were present in the courtroom. The judge said, "No going back on the judgment. People are dying (due to natural calamities). Hundreds of lives have been lost this year. Colossal loss of lives last year too."
Next hearing regarding the demolition case will be held on November 11.
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