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Chandigarh: HC asks admn to file affidavit on sale of floor-wise houses
HC resumed hearing a civil writ petition moved by the Sector-10 RWA against the conversion of single residential units into three-storeyed apartment buildings in Sectors 1-10
The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Chandigarh administration to file an affidavit after it was alleged that floor-wise building plans are being sanctioned “blatantly” in the city’s northern sectors even after assuring the court in February last year that the practice is not being followed.
The division bench of Punjab and Haryana high court, comprising justices Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Vivek Puri, was hearing a civil writ petition moved by the Residents’ Welfare Association, Sector 10, Chandigarh, against the conversion of single residential units into three-storeyed apartment buildings in Sectors 1-10 . The HC is expected to hear the matter on day-to-day basis after the Supreme Court recently ordered it to dispose of the writ petition expeditiously.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioners during the resumed hearing on Friday, senior advocate Puneet Bali pointed out that during the hearing on February 18 last year, the UT administration had told the HC that when there is no provision for apartments in the northern sectors in the Master Plan of the city, the question of any permission being granted could not arise.
Sharing a a few specific cases where the approval for floor-wise plans of bunglows has been allegedly granted, Bali said the administration is continuing with the practice. The HC has now asked UT senior standing counsel Pankaj Jain to file an affidavit on July 22 to put it on record that floor-wise sanctioning of plans is not going on in the city. The affidavit will even deal with the documents placed on record by the petitioners.
‘Builders have found loophole in Master Plan’
The petition states that according to the Master Plan, northern sectors of the city do not have the provision of apartments, and selling a single unit floor-wise would be disastrous. Allowing apartments to come up would burden the city’s infrastructure, as flats on different floors would be sold to different families, which will lead to increase in population density apart from increasing the volume of vehicles, leading to parking problem.
“Turning a single residential unit into a three-storeyed apartment will tinker with the heritage of the city. There are heritage cities globally where nothing can be changed. In Lutyens’ Delhi, nothing can be changed,” said Bali.
The petitioners contended that even if the registry of separate apartments is not being done, the “builder mafia” has already found a way to circumvent the condition. The builders are allegedly purchasing the bunglows and selling the shares of individual floors.
In view of this, the HC has raised a query that if a person wants to sell a share of his property, how can they be stopped. Senior counsel Chetan Mittal, who is the amicus curiae in this matter, will be filing a detailed synopsis and suggestions for assistance of the court before the next date of hearing.
