The municipal commissioner of Gandhinagar took a call on a high-rise commercial building constructed by a company said to be owned by city’s former mayor and BJP leader Rita Patel and her family and the municipal commissioner of Gandhinagar had also cancelled the development permission issued to JK Skyline, an 11-storey complex built at plot no. 23 in Sector 11 in the capital city. This had all been done after the call of the Gujarat High Court.
The bench headed by Acting Chief Justice R M Chhaya was hearing a PIL filed by former Congress councillor Pinky Patel seeking direction to GMC to seal the building and demolish it as it violated the General Development Control Regulation (GDCR) norms. The GMC has not granted the complex BU permission.
During the hearing in the HC, the Chief Justice asked the lawyer representing the GMC, “When are you going to take the decision.” The lawyer said, “I will take instructions from my client.”
The court said, “They have to do it fast. Take a call on this. Your commissioner should ask the municipal commissioners of Ahmedabad and Surat and take a call on it. There is a judgment on the issue as far as AMC and AUDA are concerned.”
The GMC lawyer told the court that the civic body has not issued BU permission to it.
They have to do it fast. Take a call on this. Your commissioner should ask municipal commissioners of Ahmedabad and Surat and take a call on it.
– Gujarat High Court
The matter was posted for further hearing on October 7.
Later, Pinky Patel’s husband Rajnikant Patel told Mirror, “As per the GDCR, the construction permission can be given for a ground-plus-seven construction, but the former commissioner granted permission for ground-plus-10 floors. This was cancelled within two months. The development permission was cancelled in 2018 and yet the building was constructed by a company in which former mayor Rita Patel and her husband Ketal Patel are partners.”
When approached, former mayor’s husband Ketan Patel said, “I don’t know about the HC order and do not want to speak on the issue. The building is owned by me.”