Former IPS officer and lawyer Y.P. Singh,
representing social activist Medha Patkar, said on Friday that they would now
file a criminal complaint against builder Niranjan Hiranandani and other
government officials with the Economic Offences Wing.
Mr Singh announced this
after the Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain Hiranandani’s plea
against the Bombay high court order restraining it from carrying out any
further development in its Powai township without providing flats for the
weaker section of the society.
“The entire 240 acres of land at Powai was meant for mass housing, with half
the flats at 430 square feet and the other half at 860 square feet. Despite the
stipulation being clear and specific, the public servants, mainly from the
MMRDA, BMC and Mantralaya, connived with the builder one after another to build
palatial flats instead,” Mr Singh said. He added that they would demand that
the existing buildings be demolished, as they were constructed in violation of
norms.
Hiranandani township resident Rahila, a marketing professional, said the
residents should not be penalised for the builder’s violations. “What were the
authorities doing when all this happened? They were the ones who granted all
the permissions, so why should we be penalised?” she said.
Meanwhile, Mukul Rohatgi, Hiranandani’s lawyer, said, they would move the high
court again. “We will show the HC that we have committed no breach of the
tripartite agreement.”
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