Apartments case: SC allows Chandigarh admn to submit survey report

The SC has permitted the Chandigarh administration to submit a survey report on identification of residential properties where there has been transfer of shares outside the family

The Supreme Court has permitted the Chandigarh administration to submit a survey report on identification of residential properties where there has been transfer of shares outside the family.

The SC was hearing a plea of a Chandigarh resident that opposed the survey ordered by the HC in the apartments case.

The order in this regard was passed by the apex court on Monday. It took note of submissions made by the UT, which claimed it has already conducted the survey.

The apex court directed the UT to submit the report within one week and said the high court can proceed with the hearing of pleas before it after taking into account the report. The HC is requested to adjudicate the dispute in the writ petition at the earliest, preferably within two weeks, the apex court said.

The SC was hearing a plea from a Sector-27 resident, which opposed the survey. Acting on it, the SC had stayed the HC order.

It was in July, when the HC had directed that those residential properties transferred or sold after December 31, 2019, wherein the shares were transferred to a person outside the family of the original owner, be surveyed.

The HC order had come on a batch of petitions pending since 2016, seeking prohibitory orders on conversion of residential plots into apartments. Residential plots in Chandigarh are meant for single-dwelling units. However, in recent years, they are being sold floor-wise to multiple owners, which would “destroy” the city and put additional burden on infrastructure, the petitioners had argued. The matter was taken up in the HC on Tuesday too, but was adjourned for September 16 as the apex court order was not available.