New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed the Kerala government that it should report within 4 weeks the actions taken against the buildings which were constructed violating the Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) rules.

The court also demanded that the Kerala government should implement the order to take action against the buildings that violate the rules, in its fullest sense. The apex court also granted permission to add Chief Secretary Bishwas Mehta as a party in the contempt of court plea.

In September 2019, the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had directed the then chief secretary Tom Jose to hand over the list of buildings constructed violating the rules. The SC had also instructed to inform it about the action to be taken against the violators. This direction was given while considering the case related to Maradu flat demolition.

Later, Major Ravi, one of the flat owners in Maradu, filed a contempt of court plea pointing out that this order was not implemented by the chief secretary. The court had directed the state government on February 10 to respond to this plea within six weeks. However, the government failed to give a reply.

Following this, the bench including Justices Rohington Nariman, Navin Sinha and K M Joseph, directed the state government to file a response on the contempt of court plea. As Tom Jose retired from the post, the top court allowed Major Ravi to add current chief secretary Bishwas Mehta as a party in the case.

The Supreme Court also considered the plea of Jane Builders requesting to remove the ban on selling their properties in order to refund the flat owners and other purposes of the company. The court directed Justice Balakrishnan Nair committee to determine the value of the two properties of Jane Builders.