Demolish marriage hall, Madras High Court tells CMDA

Rejecting petitions filed by 11 tenants occupying shops on the ground floor against the demolition move, a Division bench comprising Justices K. K. Sasidharan and P. Devadass said, “This is a proxy litigation on behalf of the building owner, who has given an undertaking in the Supreme Court to demolish the marriage hall on or before January 1, 2015, failing which Tambaram municipality would demolish the unauthorised structure at the cost of the builder. The building owner without demolishing the illegal structure and flouting the apex court orders is resorting to this type of litigation through his tenants to enjoy the benefits from the marriage hall constructed illegally”.

Originally, on October 9, 2015, the Tambaram municipality issued notice to the tenants calling upon them and the builder to discontinue use of their respective portions for the purpose of restoring the land to its original condition. Though the owner was permitted to construct five shops and some residential units on the ground and first floor respectively, he had constructed 19 shops on ground floor and converted the first floor into a marriage hall by changing the usage of the floor from residential to commercial.

While CMDA issued a demolition notice on June 10, 2005, the Madras high court ordered its demolition on January 23, 2014. The owner went to Supreme Court and said the marriage hall was booked up to December 2014. On his undertaking, that the entire unauthorised construction would be demolished by him by January 1, 2015, the apex court modified the high court order. Thereafter, without demolishing the illegal structure, the owner resorted to filing petitions through his tenants. After applications for regularisation of the shops were rejected, the tenants filed the present petitions.