Kerala demolition drive: Residents move Supreme Court with curative plea

The move comes less than a week ahead of the deadline set by the apex court for demolition of the flats. On September 6, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah declined to give the state any more time to carry out the demolition. The bench directed that the demolition exercise be completed and a compliance report be filed by September 20.

A bench of Justices Mishra and Navin Sinha had on May 8 ordered demolition of five apartment complexes comprising over 300 flats for flouting CRZ guidelines. The court directed that the structures be demolished in a month.

Subsequently, the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority approached the court, which was on summer vacation, with an application for extension of time to carry out the demolition. The plea came up before a vacation bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah which rejected it on May 21.

Later, groups of flat owners approached the court with fresh petitions, saying they had not been heard by a committee which drew up the report on the alleged violations. Hearing these on June 10, another vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi said judicial propriety demands that the petitions be heard by the same bench which ordered the demolition. However, the bench also ordered a stay on the demolitions until further orders.

When it again came up for hearing on July 5, the bench of Justices Mishra and Shah was critical of the other bench for passing the stay order.