CHENNAI: Owners of Jains Westminster Apartments, Chennai, has informed the Madras high court that a majority of them have decided in favour of redeveloping the property instead of reconstructing it. While reconstruction means rebuilding a structure exactly as it is, redevelopment implies construction of a new structure with a completely new plan and dimension.
A two-member committee appointed by the court submitted that of the 351 flat owners, 216 agreed to the redevelopment of the property. As many as 135 owners voted for the reconstruction of the property. The decision was made in the general body meeting of the Flat Owners’ Association.
As per a latest rule brought in by the Tamil Nadu housing and urban development department, the decision to redevelop a property must be agreed by not less than two-thirds of the apartment owners.
Recording the submission, a division bench of Justice S S Sundar and Justice N Senthilkumar directed all the flat owners to hand over the keys of the houses to the builder by Nov 4 to commence redevelopment work.
According to the court-appointed committee, former judges of the court Justice K N Basha and Justice K Kannan inspected 321 flats, and keys of 310 flats were already handed over to the builders.
Regarding the allotment of additional space of undivided share, the bench said a decision would be taken at a later point of time and adjourned the hearing to Nov 4.
On March 12, the court directed Jain Housing and Construction Limited to make a “full disclosure” of its net worth and financials to demonstrate that it has resources to rebuild three 17-storey apartments in Saligramam.
An expert committee from IIT-Madras found the apartment buildings unsafe for living. Though the company agreed to demolish and rebuild all three residential apartments, the Jains Westminster Owners Welfare Association moved the high court seeking direction to the builder to deposit Rs 106 crore towards rental accommodation for the flat owners until the buildings are reconstructed or redeveloped.
