Supreme Court verdict on Chandigarh floors
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that first 30 sectors of Chandigarh carried the heritage status of Le Corbusier zone and, therefore, conversion of residential houses into floor-wise apartments cannot be permitted in these sectors.
We hold that the fragmentation/division/ bifurcation/apartmentalisation of residential units in Phase 1 of Chandigarh is prohibited.
"No memorandums of understanding (MoU) or agreement or settlement among 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 floor-wise apartments. With this, the MoUs under process, if any signed between the buyer and the seller, stand null and void," the order said.
The Chandigarh Administration shall not resort to formulate rules or bylaws without prior consultation of the heritage committee and prior approval of the Centre,” the Bench said in its verdict,
The Supreme Court ordered that the Chandigarh Administration shall not sanction any plan of a building which ex-facie appears to be the modus operandi to convert a single dwelling unit into three different apartments occupied by three strangers.
SC asks the Centre & the UT Administration to freeze FAR and not increase it any further
Tells them to restrict the number of floors in Phase 1 to three with a uniform maximum height as deemed fit by the heritage committee
Asks the heritage committee to consider the issue of re-densification taking into consideration its own recommendations that the northern sectors should be preserved in the present form.
NEW GUIDELINES ISSUED BY THE ESTATE OFFICE
Building plans/revised building plans of only those properties whose co-owners belong to same family to be considered.
Transfer within family through sale/transfer/gift deeds/will/intestate death allowed irrespective of share held.
Wills bequeathing shares only within family members allowed.
Transfer by owners/co-owners from same family or unrelated allowed only to single or multiple persons from the same family.
Mutation for deeds registered up to date of SC judgment (i.e. Jan 10, 2023) allowed.
Residential apartments under the Chandigarh Housing Board and apartments approved under The Chandigarh Apartment Rules, 2001, by the Estate Office will not be affected by the order of the Supreme Court.
In all residential properties that are not covered by the above decision (having disputes of shares, etc.), transfers and mutations will not be done till a final decision is taken by the Heritage Committee..
