Ghaziabad: The developer of Express Garden has told Allahabad high court it has secured consent from all flat owners to seek regularisation of 131 disputed units. The court has now asked GDA to process the compounding plea within 10 days of the developer submitting those consents — a step that is likely to unlock apartment association elections stalled since 2015.The developer has claimed that no additional built-up area was created. According to it, larger two-bedroom flats were subdivided into smaller units. Compounding is the process of seeking post-facto approval for deviations under building bylaws. Thursday’s order, however, does not mean GDA has approved the plea.Residents moved the high court in May 2022 over the absence of apartment owners’ association (AOA) elections. The original layout, which was approved in 2005, was for 402 units. While a layout that was sanctioned later covered 536 units, residents claimed that 667 were actually constructed. In Dec 2023, the high court ordered GDA to inquire into 134 units beyond the original approval. The latest petition puts the disputed excess at 131 — the gap between 667 and 536.Vijay Rathi, one of the petitioners, said the developer’s calculation is based on a 36-metre-wide road, which falls in a category permitting up to 330 units per hectare. The 2.865-hectare plot initially had a floor area ratio (FAR) of 1.5, which the developer’s calculation put at about 400 units. It bought an additional 0.5 FAR, plus a 10% margin on it, taking the permissible count to 536. FAR determines the floor space that can be built on a plot.“The court’s order has opened a silver lining in our case,” said Rathi.Residents have also challenged the AOA president’s continuation in office without elections. “We hope this helps regularise the society, for which we have been fighting for more than a decade,” he added.Asked about the court order, a GDA official said, “Once the developer submits the compounding plea, we will process it within the time granted by the court.”The next hearing is on Nov 23.
