Apex Court Bans Apartmentlization of Corbusian Chandigarh

The Rising Panjab Bureau

In a landmark decision to preserve Chandigarh’s ethos, the Supreme Court on Tuesday prohibited and halted the conversion of independent houses into apartments in the City Beautiful.

The case was heard by a bench of Justices B R Gavai and M M Sundresh, who delivered the decision. The Bench ruled:

Taking the overall view of the matter, we are of the considered view that permitting redensification in PhaseI, which has heritage value, on account of being “Corbusian Chandigarh”, without the same being approved by the Heritage Committee, is contrary to the CMP2031 itself.

The Court further ruled that:

The authorities of the Chandigarh Administration are blindly sanctioning building plans when from the building plans itself it is apparent that the same is in effect converting one dwelling unit into three apartments. Such a haphazard growth may adversely affect the heritage status of Phase I of Chandigarh which is seeking to be inscribed as a UNESCO heritage city. It is further to be noted that though the Chandigarh Administration is permitting one dwelling unit to be converted into three apartments, its adverse effect on traffic has not been addressed. With the increase in the number of dwelling units, a corresponding increase in the number of vehicles is bound to be there. However, without considering the said aspect, one dwelling unit is permitted to be converted into three apartments.

The decision applies to Sectors 1–30 in Phase I, which were designated as heritage zones. Phase I apartments were also declared illegal.

The ground floor and basement used to be counted as a 50% share, the first floor as a 30% share, and the second floor as a 20% share. The city’s residents had complained to the administration, but they had expressed helplessness.

The resident welfare association of Sector 10 then petitioned the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2016 about the matter. Senior advocate P S Patwalia represented them. The RWA was supported by the Sarin Memorial Legal Foundation.

It was pleaded that it was not only damaging the city’s character, but it was also clogging city roads because so many families were staying in one independent house.

The High Court, however, only granted limited relief, forcing the RWA to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Directions Issued by the Supreme Court

We further issue the following directions:

The Heritage Committee is directed to consider the issue of redensification in PhaseI of the city of Chandigarh;

Needless to state that the Heritage Committee would take into consideration its own recommendations that the northern sectors of Chandigarh “(Corbusian Chandigarh)” should be preserved in their present form.

The Heritage Committee shall also take into consideration the impact of such redensification on the parking/traffic issues;

After the Heritage Committee considers the issues, the Chandigarh Administration would consider amending the CMP2031 and the 2017 Rules insofar as they are applicable to phase in accordance with the recommendations of the Heritage Committee;

Such amendments shall be placed before the Central Government, which shall take a decision with regard to approval of such amendments keeping in view the requirement of maintaining the heritage status of the Le Corbusier zone;

Till a final decision as aforesaid is taken by the Central Government:

a. the Chandigarh Administration shall not sanction any plan of a building which ex facie appears to be a modus operandi to convert a single dwelling unit into three different apartments occupied by three strangers; and

b. no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or agreement or settlement amongst co-owners of a residential unit shall be registered nor shall it be enforceable in law for the purpose of bifurcation or division of a single residential unit into floorwise apartments.

c. We further direct that hereinafter, the Central Government and Chandigarh Administration will freeze FAR and shall not increase it any further;

d. opriate by the Heritage Committee keeping in view the requirement to maintain the heritage status of PhaseI; and

e. That the Chandigarh Administration shall not resort to formulating rules or bye-laws without prior consultation of the Heritage Committee and prior approval of the Central Government.