SC stays order for residents of Chintels towers to vacate

New Delhi

The Supreme Court has protected 22 residents of the Chintels Paradiso condominium in Gurugram Sector 109 from eviction, days after the Haryana government directed that three towers in the complex — deemed unsafe for habitation by experts — be vacated within 15 days.

The direction of the court has come as a succour to the residents, who were asked to move out by the authorities in a March 19 order after the three towers — Towers A, C and J — were found structurally unsafe in an audit conducted by the Central Building Research Institute. The residents moved court to challenge the state’s directions.

A bench headed by justice Abhay S Oka, in an order passed on March 24 but made public on Wednesday, sought response of the state on the residents’ plea by April 9, the next date of hearing. Till then, it said, “The order dated March 19, 2025 shall not be implemented till then as against the petitioners.”

Chintels India Ltd vice president JN Yadav said that they will file a reply in the apex court on the next date of hearing.

The Chintels Paradiso complex has nine towers. On February 10, 2022, renovations at a sixth-floor flat in Tower D led to the ceiling of a bedroom collapsing, causing a cascade effect in which portions of flats caved in all the way down to the first floor. Following the incident, in which two people were killed, the Haryana department of town and country planning (DTCP) ordered a structural audit of the entire complex.

Based on the audit reports, the administration declared six towers unsafe for habitation, and gave approval for Chintels India Ltd, the developer, to demolish the buildings.

In their petition before the top court, the residents sought protection of their fundamental right to life and liberty (Article 21), pointing out that in January 2024, while dealing with a set of residents belonging to other towers, the top court had directed the developer to reconstruct the towers. Despite the order, the petition said, 11 months have lapsed without any construction being undertaken.

The residents further accused the builder of pressuring them to sign re-development agreements that may allow the developer to increase the number of flats, denying them the benefit of a larger flat area and common amenities. The court has also sought a response from Chintels to these allegations.