By IANS,
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court Thursday sought the response of the union environment ministry on a petition by members of the scam-hit Adarsh Housing Society challenging the ministry’s order to demolish the 31-storey building.
Issuing notice, Justice D.K. Deshmukh asked the ministry to file its reply by March 8.
The ministry Jan 16 ordered that the Adarsh Housing Society building be demolished within three months for Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations.
Members of the society had Monday filed a petition challenging the order.
The building in Mumbai’s plush Colaba locality was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil War heroes and their kin but was later extended to 31 floors allegedly without mandatory permission.
Under the CRZ, permission has to be sought for any construction in coastal areas. The ministry, in its order, concluded that the society had not obtained the necessary prior clearance under the CRZ Notification, 1991.
Among other things, the society was accused of usurping a prime plot of defence land, violating floor space index rules and flouting other norms and rules.