Surat: The Gujarat High Court has set aside a development plan and building use (BU) permission given earlier to an owner of a bungalow in Surat, who ended up building a huge commercial complex in a residential society.

The order by Justice JB Pardiwala also stated that since the property was already in use contrary to the bye-laws of the society, it has directed the owner of the building to pull down the entire construction at his own cost within a period of four weeks.

The court has also directed that in case the owner fails to demolish the construction, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) should do it and recover the cost of the same from the owner of the illegal construction.
The court also said that the order passed by the SMC sanctioning the plans were contrary to the bye-laws of the society and the grant of the BU permission was also illegal.

The case pertained to a bungalow that was sold in Madhavnagar Co-operative Housing Society in Surat. The original owner Niranjanaben Patel sold the bungalow No 40 to one Pankaj Karnavat after taking due permission from the society.

Karnavat was made a new member and agreed to follow the rules of society. Later he decided to demolish the bungalow and construct a residential lowrise. The society gave him a No Objection Certificate (NOC)in good faith but Karnavat ended up building huge structure meant for commercial use.The society objected to the plans but he did not pay heed following which the dispute reached before the Joint Registrar and Member, Board of Nominees, Surat.

The Joint Registrar refused to grant an injunction restraining the owner from putting up the construction. The society then approached SMC stating that it cannot sanction the plans without a NOC by the society. The SMC, however, in 2016 gave Karnavat a BU Certificate.

The court while taking to task the SMC observed that before sanctioning the plans, even if there is any NOC duly issued by the society, the competent authority of the corporation is duty-bound to give notice to the society to put forward their objection.

Terming the plans sanctioned by the SMC including the BU permission as absolutely illegal, the judgment said that the bye-laws of the society clearly states that the members have to use the plot allotted to them only for residential purpose and hence there is no question of putting up any construction of commercial nature.