The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday set aside a 2020 judgment of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court that had faulted the development of Ambience Mall and
directed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the
construction of the mall and related commercial projects in Gurugram. The court
held that the challenge suffered from gross delay, lack of bona fides, and
repeated invocation of multiple forums, and therefore did not merit the
exercise of extraordinary writ jurisdiction.
A Bench of Justice J B Pardiwala
and Justice Sandeep Mehta ruled that the High Court erred in entertaining a
writ petition filed in 2015, long after the commercial complex had been
completed and made operational.
“The present writ petition came
to be filed in the year 2015, that is, almost eight years after the Ambience
Mall and the Leela Ambience Hotel had been constructed and had become fully
operational,” the court said, and added:
“In this backdrop, the gross
delay in approaching the High Court constituted a material and decisive factor,
which by itself ought to have disentitled the writ petitioners to any sort of
discretionary relief under Article 226 (writs) of the Constitution.”
The dispute arose from petitions
filed by residents of the Ambience Lagoon Apartments, who alleged that the
developer had illegally constructed commercial structures, including Ambience
Mall and a hotel, on land earmarked for group housing. Among the reliefs sought
were demolition of the commercial complex and a court-monitored CBI
investigation into the alleged usurpation of land in collusion with public
authorities.