UP Govt Approves Invocation of NSA Against Delhi Builder over 'Illegal' Construction

Noida (UP): The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday approved the invocation of the National Security Act against a Delhi-based builder for illegally constructing flats in Greater Noida's Shahberi, where nine people were killed in two building collapses last year.

According to officials, builder Jasvir Mann (36) had constructed and sold the maximum number of flats in the area. The builder had illegally developed 261 flats in Shahberi and sold around 170 of them, the officials said.

They added that flats were developed in buildings which did not have requisite permission, approved maps and had come up illegally on the land notified by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA).

Jasvir Mann, 36, was arrested under the Gangster Act on October 1 and is currently lodged in the Luksar jail of Gautam Buddh Nagar. The district administration had on October 15 proposed his detention under the NSA.

"The state government has now approved the detention of the rogue builder (Mann) under the NSA, which prevents bail to an accused for a year, subject to judicial review after every three months," District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh said.

"The district administration has also attached 70 vacant flats developed by this builder," Singh told PTI, adding, "his release from jail could have led to public disorder because he was likely to engage in selling the remaining flats which too were made without due permission, had weak structure and poor quality material."

The DM said this was perhaps the first time when a builder had been detained under the NSA under such circumstances. So far, 86 FIRs had been registered for illegal construction in Shahberi and action had been taken against 42 builders under the Gangsters Act, a senior official said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had in July directed officials to ensure tough action against rogue builders and erring government officials. On July 17, 2018, two buildings in Shahberi village had collapsed, leaving nine people, including a child and two women, dead.

Probe reports by the administration found that the buildings had come up illegally and without any proper approval, as did several others which mushroomed over the years in Shahberi, less than 50 km from Delhi.

Earlier, Shahabuddin, the builder of the twin buildings that had collapsed last July, was arrested and detained under the NSA following the incident in which nine lives were lost.