New Delhi: The Campa Cola case is likely to come up for hearing on Monday in the Supreme Court. This comes after the apex court had asked the Attorney General GE Vahanvattti to find a humanitarian solution to the problem in consultation with the residents. The court had temporarily stayed the demolition of the building in 2013.
The Supreme Court had in November, 213 took suo moto cognizance of the Campa Cola matter and directed the BMC not to carry out demolitions till May 31, 2014.
The residents of the Campa Cola compound have had a long legal fight since 2005 when they first went to court for water connection and regularisation and the court ordered the then municipal commissioner to take time-bound action on the case. The municipal commissioner instead of taking action against the builders served demolition notices to over 60 flats above the fifth floor.
The builders of the society - PSB Construction, Yusuf Patel and BK Gupta - were granted a permission to construct the residential towers of not more than five floors. They, however, went ahead and flouted the norms by constructing 35 illegal floors.
According to reports the flats were built by one of Mumbai's original underworld don's Yousuf Patel and were sold at the 1/3rd the market value. The demolition notices were challenged in the civil court which granted a stay. The residents, however, lost the case in the High Court in 2011 and subsequently in the Supreme Court in February 2013 when it refused to regularise the structure.
The BMC then issued a demolition notice on April 27 asking the occupants of the illegal flats to vacate within 48 hours. However, the Supreme Court intervention ensured that the residents got a five month window to vacate their houses.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government, which has been slow in resolving the case, said that it was just following the Supreme Court order. The state government is hesitant to promulgate an ordinance fearing similar demands from other illegal colonies.
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