Demolition order on Billroth hospital’s appeal reserved

The Madras High Court on Thursday reserved orders on an appeal moved by Billroth Hospital at Shenoy Nagar, against a direction ordering the demolition of the top five floors of the eight-floor building reportedly built against planning permission.

A vacation division bench comprising Justice P D Audikesavulu and Justice RMT Teekaa Raman before whom arguments prevailed for a couple of sessions reserved its order without mentioning a date.

Billroth Hospital in its appeal had submitted that when the hospital was established in 1990 it had just 30 beds. But it rapidly grew into a multi-specialty hospital in 2007 with 650 beds.

Claiming that the contentious eight storey ‘S’ block of the hospital has been in existence since 2004-05, the hospital’s managing director Dr Rajesh Jeganathan submitted that his father had applied for regularisation beyond the third floor on October 12, 2006 itself. However, the CMDA rejected the application based on some discrepancies. But no coercive steps were taken against the hospital.

Subsequently, in 2017, based on a scheme wherein the government sought to regularise buildings that were constructed before July 1, 2007, yet another application for regularisation was filed. But the scheme itself was challenged before the High Court which had directed the CMDA to process all applications but not to take any final decisions onthem.

However, notwithstanding this order, based on a PIL moved by one P Krishnan, a division bench of Justice S Vaidyanathana and Subramonium Prasad on May 9 directed disconnection of power to the hospital beyond the third floor by May 31 and demolish it after removing the doors, windows, glasses and, toilet seats between May 31 and June 2.

Contending that the building cannot be demolished until the regularisation application was disposed of, the plea further submitted that the division bench had come to a conclusion that the floors beyond the third should have been constructed only during 2009 since the hospital had been paying property tax for only three floors till then. But the floors had come into existence much before the cutoff date of July 2007 fixed by the government for regularisation, the plea said.

It may be noted the bench which ordered for the demolition had come down bitterly on the authorities for allowing such illegal construction at the first place. It said, “It is apposite to mention that the officials concerned who are entrusted with the work of removal of illegal constructions and encroachments but shirking their responsibility can merely be construed as traitors of the nation. No court would like to play the role of a traitor in ordering regularisation of illegal constructions and encroachments.”