Delhi HC issues summons to Gurugram’s Green View project contractor on NBCC’s suit for Rs 750 cr damages
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has issued summons and has sought reply from Ramacivil India Construction Private Limited on a suit filed by National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) seeking damages of Rs 750 crore.
Ramacivil is the contractor which had constructed the Green View project at sector 37-D, Gurugram, which has been deemed unfit for habitation.
A bench of Justice Yogesh Khanna directed Ramacivil to file its reply by July 27, also the next date of hearing in the matter.
The bench was apprised that the company worked on building the RCC structure for the NBCC’s Green View project. Howbeit, the building started to exhibit the signs of an unsafe structure very quickly, which was validated by extensive testing by CSIR-CBRI and IIT-Roorkee.
“Many photographs were filed on record depicting the dilapidated condition of building, fallen concrete chunks, etc. Images of such building(s) are annexed with the application and even more than 100 photos of the subject property has been filed showing its fallen ceilings in rooms; at stair cases, in toilets, in kitchen(s) etc, which allegedly pose serious threat to human life,” the order copy stated.
Justice Khanna was informed that the occupants of the building have been evicted due to safety concerns.
“The RCC structure has also been termed by D12, the Disaster
Management Authority, as unfit for human habitation and the occupants
were ordered to be evicted from the said structure and is now awaiting
demolition,” the court was informed.
The NBCC Green View projects have 784 flats and 139 apartments for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) over an area of more than 18 acres.
The developer sold about 260 apartments, but in 2021, IIT-Delhi brought out a number of issues with the structure and declared it unfit to live.
On NBCC seeking exemption from going through the pre-institution mediation, the court allowed the request.
According to the NBCC, the recovery suit arose in an extremely unusual situation, and the essential issue is the risk to human life, which cannot be settled through mediation.
The bench said: “Considering the photographs filed on record depicting the dilapidated condition of building and since it poses a serious threat to human habitation, even to the passersby and to the structures erected nearby, viz a school and also in view of urgent prayers made in this applications, pre-mediation in these circumstance would not serve any purpose as there is nothing to mediate in view of prayers qua demolition and considering the condition of building, thus the application is allowed.
“The plaintiff herein is allowed to file the suit without pre institution mediation.”