The Supreme Court declined to stay the Delhi High Court’s order allowing demolition of Signature View Apartments, citing safety concerns. Residents must vacate by October 12, 2025, as directed.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Friday refused to entertain a plea against the demolition of Signature View Apartments in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi. The petition had challenged a Delhi High Court order which clearly stated that there would be no stay on the demolition of these flats.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe heard the matter. The petitioners had asked for a stay on the September 17 interim order of the Delhi High Court. However, the Supreme Court did not agree to intervene in the matter.
Signature View Apartments is part of a housing project launched by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in 2010.
The complex has 336 flats in total—224 flats under the Higher Income Group (HIG) category and 112 flats under the Middle Income Group (MIG) category. These flats are spread across 12 blocks.
The problems in the building started showing up just two to three years after the first allotments were made in 2010, and residents got possession in 2012. The plaster from the outer walls began to fall off in many blocks, and cracks appeared on the pillars, raising safety concerns.
In its order dated September 17, the Delhi High Court had directed the DDA to make arrangements to help residents with the shifting process.
The court said:
“There shall be no stay on demolition, which shall, however, be undertaken by the DDA by causing minimum inconvenience to the residents.”
The High Court also instructed that the DDA should set up a camp office inside the Signature View Apartments complex within two days of its order to help residents with documentation and other formalities for vacating and handing over their flats.
The court further added that the residents would be allowed to take away all their belongings before vacating the flats, including fittings.
It said:
“The residents would be permitted to take away their household items at the time of vacating the flats, including bathroom fittings and electrical items, etc.”
The High Court granted residents time until October 12, 2025, to vacate their flats. It made the position clear by stating:
“Residents are granted time till October 12, 2025, to vacate their respective flats. We may make it clear that the stay of the residents for any period under this order shall be at their own risk for the reasons already assigned in our earlier order dated August 7, 2025.”
This was not the first time the issue had come before the court. Earlier, in December 2024, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had upheld a December 18, 2023 order passed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which had declared the Signature View Apartments buildings as dangerous and unsafe for living.
The single judge had observed that the DDA had the full authority to demolish the buildings and later reconstruct them.
With the Supreme Court now refusing to entertain the challenge, the demolition of the Signature View Apartments will go ahead as ordered by the Delhi High Court, and residents will have to vacate the flats by the deadline set by the court.
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