E-Paper
Chandigarh: HC takes note of plea seeking revival of Apartment Rules
Another HC bench is already hearing a plea that demands Chandigarh administration be restricted from allowing floor-wise sale of properties
The high court has sought response from the Chandigarh administration and central government on a plea challenging the 2007 notification withdrawing Apartment Rules, 2001, claiming that the move was illegal and without jurisdiction.
The high court (HC) bench of justice Rajan Gupta and justice Karamjit Singh has sought response from various respondents by November 2.
A 2016 plea is already under consideration of another division bench presided over by justice TS Dhindsa, in which petitioners are demanding that Chandigarh be restricted from allowing floor-wise sale of properties. In this matter, it has come to light that between 2016 and 2019, as many as 891 sale deeds were registered by the estate office, wherein a part of the property was sold outside the family.
In 2001, the administration had notified Chandigarh Apartment Rules, 2001, whereby single residential units could be subdivided into apartments. It was repealed in October 2007. The administration has maintained that no permission is being granted to convert residential houses into apartments.
The fresh plea demands that the sale of a storey as an independent unit be allowed, as it is not prohibited under the Capital of Punjab Development and Regulation Act 1952 and rules made thereunder. It also says that a committee be constituted to examine the issue of allowing construction of apartments to address the demand of residents and modern-day challenges of the city.
It says each floor is an independent unit capable of being occupied by a family, and does not in anyway affect the basic character of Chandigarh and there is no violation of building rules. The regulatory powers of a state are also not affected in any manner if registration of floors as independent units is allowed, the plea underlines.
