Noida Authority seals Supertech's two towers as per Allahabad High Court order

Noida Authority today sealed realty firm Supertech's two 40-storey towers with more than 800 flats following the Allahabad High Court's order to demolish the buildings.

The towers -- Apex and Ceyane -- have a combined 857 apartments, of which 600 were sold, and are a part of Supertech's Emerald Court project.

On April 11, the court ordered the demolition of the two buildings in Noida and the refund of money to apartment buyers in response to a petition that alleged their construction had violated the law.

"The two towers have been sealed as per court direction," a senior official of Noida Authority said.

Supertech, which has suffered a major setback with this decision, will move the Supreme Court in the next 7-10 days challenging the high court order, Chairman and Managing Director R K Arora had said yesterday.

Arora maintained that the construction of the towers was according to the approved plan and was authorised.

Hundreds of affected buyers held protests against the company and the high court order earlier this week.

"We held a meeting with the affected buyers. Nobody wants refund of money. They only want their flats," Arora had said.

A division bench comprising Justice V K Shukla and Justice Suneet Kumar ordered the demolition of the two towers erected in Sector 93-A of Noida as part of the Supertech Emerald Court Complex "within a period of four months."

The complex has residential premises and shopping establishments.

The court also ordered that money be refunded to all those who had invested in the two towers "with 14 per cent interest compounded annually."

The judgement was passed while allowing a writ petition of the Emerald Court Owners Resident Welfare Association, which alleged that the approval and construction of the two towers was "in complete violation of the UP Apartment Acts."

The petitioner claimed the Noida Authority had given permission to raise the height of the two towers, which were supposed to have only 24 floors, without maintaining the mandatory distance of 16 metres from an adjoining building block, making it "unsafe, apart from blocking air and light."