The Kochi Corporation has asked the Kerala Judicial Officers’ Cooperative Society to halt the construction of its 15-storey apartment complex at Chalikkavattom, following reports of falsification of land documents.
A stop memo was issued to P.K. Mohandas, secretary of the society, on April 29.
The construction of the complex with 65 dwelling units had reached its final stages, and the units were all set to be handed over to owners, including judges of the Kerala High Court and the district judiciary.
The Kochi Corporation Secretary served the stop memo following an inspection on a complaint. The complainant had alleged that the building permit for the apartment complex had been obtained from the civic body after manipulating land documents. He complained that the possession certificate of the property was manipulated to show an area of eight cents in the 75- cent holding as ‘purayidam’ though it was recorded as ‘nilam’ in the Basic Tax Register of the Revenue Department.
Society denies it
Meanwhile, an office-bearer of the society denied manipulation of documents. No construction was carried out in the eight-cent area, where an authorised building with a door number issued by the Kochi Corporation existed, said the official, while confirming that a stop memo had been served to the Society.
He suspected foul play in the matter. The permit was issued after the civic authorities carried out inspections, including site visit. The land in question was shown as garden land with road access in the fair value document of the State government, though it was recorded as nilam in the Basic Tax Register, he said.
The corporation did not issue a show-cause notice or share the complaint before slapping the stop memo. The association will seek legal recourse against the violation of its rights, the official added.
