TNUHDB opposes stay against blacklisting KP Park tenements builder

 The Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB), in an affidavit on Thursday, challenged the Madras High Court direction that restrained the State from blacklisting PST Engineering Constructions. There were allegations against the company for constructing poor quality government residential tenements at Kesava Pillai Park (KP Park), Pulianthope in Chennai.

The TNUHDB submitted its contentions before Justice N Anand Venkatesh while the judge was hearing a plea preferred by the construction firm challenging the decision of the government. “After there were complaints against the company stating that it has built around 100 poor quality tenements in Pulianthope, several experts including a committee from IIT-Madras examined the quality of the construction. After examining the works, the expert committee recommended the government blacklist the company. Therefore, the government sent a show-cause notice questioning the company why it should not be blacklisted,” TNUHDB argued.

On December 2, the company assured the HC that it would fix the issue and later informed the HC that it had finished about 93 per cent of the repair works in the government residential apartments. Since the company argued that to proceed with the repairs, the State should not blacklist it, the court passed an interim injunction directing the State not to blacklist the firm to proceed with the maintenance work.

“If the company was on the blacklist, it could not do any remedy for the affected building,” the court observed on December 2, 2021.

Since the company asked time to file an additional counter against the submissions of the government side, the judge adjourned the matter to January 11, 2022. The court has also extended the interim injunction restraining the government from putting the private construction firm on the blacklist.