SC breather for six-storey building facing demolition

The demolition of six-storey building in Thousand Lights by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) following the High Court’s directive was stayed on Tuesday after the intervention of the Supreme Court.

CMDA sources said that a temporary stay order from the Supreme Court was obtained and as such, the demolition that began in the morning could not be continued.

“We will vacate the stay and the building will be demolished,” CMDA sources told Express.

“We knew about the apex court’s stay order only at 3.15 pm when the demolition work was going on. We immediately stopped it. We have got only the fax copy of the order. We are yet to get the official order,” CMDA sources said.

The demolition work began on Tuesday amid heavy police bandobust after the Madras High Court ordered razing of the entire six-floor building within two weeks as it was constructed in violation of an agreement entered into between the owner of the land and the lessee and without proper approval from the CMDA.

A division bench comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M Venugopal gave the direction to demolish the building on Anna Salai and Aziz Mulkh Street while allowing a writ petition from the Muslim Educational Society in Karaikal, represented by its secretary KEMI Kwaja Mohideen, on July 3 last. Sources said the cost of demolition would be met by CMDA and later recovered from the owner.