State confirms NSA against Shahberi builder

Noida

Noida

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The Uttar Pradesh government has confirmed imposition of provisions of the National Security Act on a builder who had sold 261 illegal flats to buyers in a building in Shahberi which had collapsed in July 2018, leading to the death of nine people and injuries to several others. District magistrate BN Singh had invoked provisions of the strigent NSA against Jasveer Mann, 36, a Delhi-based builder, on October 15, 2019 for carrying out illegal construction and selling it to buyers.

The recommendation of the district magistrate had been sent for approval from an advisory board of the state consisting of a sitting judge of the high court and two retired judges.

Mann was under the judicial custody and had applied for bail when the act was invoked against him. Mann was the second builder who was booked for illegal construction in Shahberi.

Prior to him, on August 28, Shahabudin Khan, 47, who had built an illegal building without getting an approval for the layout plan from the Greater Noida authority was also booked under NSA. His detention was going to get over by November 27. The state government has now extended Khan’s detention by another three months.

Officials had said Khan had used poor quality construction material which had led to the twin building collapse on July 17, 2018.

After imposing NSA on an accused, he can be kept under detention for one year but three months at most in one go. Khan’s three months’ detention period was getting over on November 27, following which the administration had sought the extension of his detention for another three months. The state government has confirmed the extension of Khan’s detention.

“We have also got the approval to increase the detention period of Khan against whom NSA was invoked in August. During the investigation, we have got enough evidence to prove that all the dealings related to the building constructed by Khan were illegal. The way land was transferred and the way construction took place without any permission from the authority was totally illegal which led to the incident, claiming 9 lives. If he will come out then it can create law and order situation in Shahberi,” said Singh.

According to the district magistrate, Mann had constructed 261 flats in several multi-storeyed buildings in Shahberi without getting any approval for the layout plans or maps of these buildings. Mann has sold 169 flats in buildings that had no structural stability certificate.

After the incident, separate investigations by the police and the administration revealed a complex and well thought out nexus of builders, land mafia and contractors which have had manipulated the vacuum in housing sector in Shahberi arising out of various litigations in the Allahabad High Court.

Despite the High Court’s orders to maintain status quo in the area, registration of commercial and residential property has not stopped in Shahberi village. Though the district administration, the Greater Noida authority and the police department have been raising concerns over the illegality of construction which has taken place in Shahberi but no steps have been taken to stop the registry of properties in the area.

“We have got the approval to invoke NSA against Mann who will be kept under detention because there is possibility that he can come out and start selling flats again to buyers illegally. We will continue taking strict legal action against rogue builders as per law,” said the district magistrate.

Mann runs a construction company, Mann Properties and Developers, along with his father. He lives with his family in Gautampuri, Delhi.