SC gives relief to residents of SoBo twin towers, restores construction curbs on builder

Mumbai: In a relief for residents of 'The Imperial’—the 60-storey twin towers at Tardeo—Supreme Court has restored construction restrictions imposed on the developer. It also asked Bombay HC to expedite hearing of developer S D Corporation’s pending appeal against the restraints in a high-stakes dispute.S D Corporation is a joint venture of Shapoorji Pallonji and Dilip Thacker Group.Nearly 50 flat purchasers from towers A and B had approached HC last year challenging revised building plans and additional construction, arguing that they went beyond the last disclosed layout of 2009.Last Nov, a single judge bench of Justice Sandeep Marne restrained the developer from making any addition or alteration to Towers A and B without residents’ consent and capped construction of a third building—Tower C—at 38,500sqm of builtup area. Justice Marne held that developers cannot bypass residents’ consent or violate disclosures under Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act. The developer’s appeal is pending before a division bench.SC said the matter could be taken up on priority. “Keeping in view the nature of the lis (dispute raised in the pending suit), high court is requested to hear the intra-court appeals on an out-of-turn basis, subject to the cooperation of the parties,” said a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymala Bagchi and V Mohana in an Aug 14 order.While admitting the appeal, the HC division bench had on June 15 said it raised “arguable questions” against the interim order. It also granted interim relief to the developer, staying parts of the Nov restraints pending the appeal.Residents led by Rajkumar Gulai moved SC against the June relief to the developer. Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi and Shyam Divan and advocate Siddharth Dharmadhikari argued that Justice Marne’s restrictions should continue during the appeal because once carried out, construction would be difficult to reverse. SC also heard senior counsel A M Singhvi, Dhruv Mehta and C A Sundaram for the developer before ruling that the “ad interim injunction granted by the single judge shall continue to operate during the pendency of the intra-court appeal”.As a result, the Nov HC order will continue: the developer cannot carry out construction on Towers A and B or make additions or alterations without flat purchasers’ consent until the suit is decided, and Tower C’s construction remains capped at 38,500sqm. The order also allows the developer to construct Tower D on the larger property, but it cannot be attached to the podium or any part of Towers A, B and C. Tower C’s construction will remain subject to the suit’s outcome, and the developer must inform prospective purchasers accordingly.