Probe in Ambience Mall Unauthorised Construction

The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed a 2001 order of the Haryana government that allowed construction of the Ambience Mall in Gurugram, after it de-licensed a certain portion of over 18 acres of land, which was originally meant for a residential complex, to construct a commercial building. The court declared the construction of the mall unauthorised, spelling trouble for the multi-brand retailer. The builder defended his actions in the court by relying upon the builder-buyer agreement in which a clause specifically stated the housing complex would come up on 10.98 acres, while the rest of the area was reserved for “future development”. But the bench rejected the builder’s arguments and said an agreement between two parties couldn’t override the law to regulate urbanisation, and prevent ill-planned and haphazard development. The court also observed that the builder had submitted his Deed of Declaration eight years after he applied for licence. However, the authorities failed to prosecute him. As per the court, the submission of Deed of Declaration was intentionally delayed for so many years as there appears to be dishonest intention of the builder from the very inception of the project to dupe the buyers by raising a commercial complex within the space sanctioned for group housing project.