Demolition of Chander Kunj apartments: owners to take a call on legal recourse

With a single bench of the Kerala High Court disposing of a batch of review petitions against its February 3 verdict ordering the demolition and reconstruction of the Chander Kunj Army Apartments at Vytilla on Wednesday (June 25, 2025), the owners are now to take a call on whether to file a writ appeal before a division bench of the High Court or a special leave petition before the Supreme Court.

The petitioners had filed the review petitions seeking clarity on various aspects of the original verdict, but remain unconvinced that the purpose was served by Wednesday’s order.

Saji Thomas, one of the review petitioners, found Wednesday’s verdict problematic on three counts — the permission granted to the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO), which originally built the twin towers, to use salvaged materials for reconstruction/ to construct additional floors or areas to offset the losses incurred during demolition and rebuilding, and to collect additional amounts from the owners. “How can materials salvaged from a building deemed unsafe and ordered to be demolished be reused in constructing a new one?” he asked.

The court also directed the committee chaired by the District Collector to re-evaluate the scale of construction, taking into account the number of allottees willing to proceed with reconstruction and the compensation to be offered to those opting for the buy-back scheme. The court noted that 82 out of 264 allottees had expressed interest in the buy-back option.

“An expression of interest is not the same as a firm willingness to opt for the scheme. That will depend on the terms of the buy-back, which the AWHO has not yet disclosed. Regardless, both towers should be fully reconstructed, and the units of those who choose the buy-back should be put up for sale, rather than scaling down the reconstruction,” said Mr. Thomas.

The court has revised the rent to be paid by AWHO to the owners until the new units are handed over, increasing it from ₹21,000 and ₹23,000, as proposed in the February 3 verdict, to ₹30,000 and ₹35,000 for flats in the B and C towers, respectively. However, this is still lower than the ₹35,000 and ₹38,000 recommended in the District Collector’s affidavit, which was based on a sub-committee report. Mr. Thomas questioned the basis for scaling down the rent proposed by the sub-committee, which had considered prevailing market rates.

The court further clarified that owners who were temporarily not occupying their flats as of March 29, 2024, would not be excluded from receiving rent. It specified that only those who had never taken up residence or had rented out their flats would be excluded.

Mr. Thomas said the owners had the right to occupy or rent out their flats. “The flats were sold for between ₹56 lakh and ₹90 lakh, and those who had rented them out may have been using the rental income to repay housing loans. Their loss of income should also be compensated,” he said.