Supertech Emerald Court housing society, where the twin towers were located, has issued notices to owners running paying guest facilities, and has also asked bachelor tenants living in such accommodation to vacate premises owing to violation of society norms, representatives of the Residents Welfare Association (RWA) said.
The posh society shot to fame after the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the twin towers located in the housing complex.
Udaybhan Singh Teotia, President of Emerald Court Owners Residents Welfare Association, said that they had been receiving complaints from other residents that paying guest (PGs) accommodations were being run within the society, which is against the bylaws of the Apartment Owners Association (AOA).
“It’s an old rule in our society that commercial activities such as PGs, and hostels will not be allowed to function. Some owners in the society violated that rule to operate PGs and no consent was sought from the RWA for the same. We received several complaints that residents were getting disturbed by such activities so the notices were issued and those living there were asked to vacate the flat,” Teotia told Moneycontrol.
He clarified that notices were not issued overnight as those living in these PGs were given time of two to three months to vacate the premise.
He, however, did not share a copy of the notice with Moneycontrol.
Teotia said that the RWA came across several cases where a rent agreement was made in the name of a tenant but the flat is again sub-let to four or five members.
“This is simply unacceptable and against our bylaws. We don’t allow to run PG or hostel in a flat,” Teotia said.
Advocate on record in Supreme Court, Prashant Kanha said that generally any commercial activity such as running hostels etc is not allowed to run in a residential society but denying a bachelor a flat on rent is also a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution.
“A PG can only be operated from a house if the owner lives with the tenant. But if a tenant is sub-letting it and allowing people to live there, then it becomes a hostel, which is not permitted. So if such is the case in Emerald Court then the RWA is right in issuing notice to the owner and asking him to terminate the contract with the tenant,” Kanha said.
He also said that several societies do not allow bachelors to rent a flat, which is not right.
“It is a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution which forbids discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. A person cannot be denied a right to live in a society on the basis of his or her marital status,” Kanha said.
A local broker, Mahendra Kumar said that there are several societies where bachelors are not allowed to rent a flat.
“Some societies in Noida have specifically mentioned that PG-related activities will not be allowed on the premises and some have even restricted bachelors from renting a flat in their complexes. This is a common problem here,” Kumar said.
Rajiva Singh, president Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Associations (NOFAA) said that there cannot be any discriminatory rules and regulations based on cast, creed, economics, geographies or “marital status” of a resident in a community living.
He said that in case any resident whether owners, tenants or bachelors are not following defined society rules and guidelines they need to be treated at par and corrective measures taken accordingly.
“Any commercial activity like PG, with frequent changes in tenants, which can be a threat to the security of a society has to be discouraged. Proper police verifications are needed for all such tenants or bachelor tenants for the safety of societies,” he said.
He added that bachelors and youths are part of the community and need to be mentored in case they are a cause of inconvenience to others
“They are part of our responsibility, we cannot shun our responsibilities as welfare bodies,” he said.
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