A V Antony, a Chellavanoor native who led a one-man fight against the four flat complexes in Kochi's Maradu area that violated coastal zone regulations, is a happy man today. The Supreme Court through an order on September 27, 2019 had asked the government to demolish all apartments that violated coastal regulation zone norm.
During this fight, Antony has never bothered to appear before any media to explain his side. And when he finally got a favourable verdict, Antony has not indulged in any sort of triumphalism either. He made it clear that his fight was not against any flat complex, but against unauthorised constructions. In an exclusive interview with Manorama Online he speaks about his prolonged legal fight against unauthorised constructions, including those at Maradu.
Excerpts from the interview:
'My aim was not to make anyone homeless'
I had never wished that anyone lost their houses or flats. I did not want anyone to become homeless. However, I am happy that the long fight I undertook has finally succeeded. Especially since I suffered a lot frequenting courts and numerous offices. Those responsible for the construction of these flat complexes were very well aware that the buildings had violated many norms. However, they went ahead with the construction. The laws were circumvented with the help of corrupt officials. There were unholy nexus behind these constructions.
'I am not an environmental activist'
Most people are of the belief that it was a fight by an environment activist that resulted in the demolition of these illegal constructions. I am not an environment activist. I am an ordinary man from Ernakulam. Chellavanoor is a place where my family lived for generations. A builder had purchased land behind our house. They went ahead with the construction without showing any respect towards the concerns of people living in the area. The place was popular for its shrimp farming. When they went ahead with the construction by levelling the shrimp farms it became difficult to live in the area.
When we submitted a complaint, the officials had called us up to inquire. However, when we started following up on our complaints, they began to ignore us. They were not even bothered to conduct a proper inquiry into the complaints. This led me to a realisation. It was that those behind the illegal constructions had paid huge amount as bribe to the officials. Officials, therefore, turned a blind eye to our complaint. It looked as if every complaint was a means for these officials to collect bribe.
Crucial clue in CRZ regulations
I have been hopping from office to office with complaints right from 2008. Nothing happened. What's more, the officials even tried to mislead me. It was at this juncture that I met an advocate named M A Elias. He was very helpful. This was a period when I began to read books about building norms. I also bought a book on building norms and gifted it to the advocate. Both of us began to study the issue. We could identify around 37 violations in a single building. After this we approached the vigilance.
After the vigilance took up the case, five officials were suspended for corruption. However, the builders went ahead with the construction after manipulating the FIR with the help of corrupt police officers. But reading the book on coastal zone regulations was an eye-opener. Rule 24(3) of the regulations has made it abundantly clear that the sanction of the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) was mandatory for any constructions along the shores of lakes. Following this we used the Right to Information Act to find out whether the rule 24(3) was complied with during the construction. We soon realised that most of the officials were not even aware of this rule.
Following this we submitted a complaint to the KCZMA. The authority appointed a committee with experts including the present Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma. The other members of the committee were Ramachandran, Harinarayanan, Professor K V Thomas and B Madhushoodanan. Luckily none of the members were corrupt.
The Committee's findings led to stop memos being served on many constructions that were going on in Maradu Panchayat and Kochi Corporation. Many just ignored the stop memos. Following this, the cases reached the high court. Constructions continued even when a High Court stop memo was in force.
Death of the advocate
Death of advocate M A Elias in 2012 was a major set back. I had to hop from one lawyer’s office to another in search of advocates. Nobody was willing to take up the case. Instead they suggested settlement with the builders. I did not agree with this suggestion. Finally I managed to find an advocate who agreed to take up the case. His name was G Gopakumar. It was after he came on board that cases were registered against the flats and the High Court had first ordered the demolition. However, when the builders went for an appeal, the division bench allowed them to go ahead with the construction after paying a fine of Rs one crore. This order was upheld by the Supreme Court also. Then, an appeal was filed before the two-member bench comprising Arun Misra and S Ravindra Bhat that eventually ordered the demolition of the flats.
House full of files
Antony kept track of all the unauthorised constructions and encroachment in Kochi and its surroundings. This is evident from the heaps of files in his home. A shelf has been kept exclusively for the receipts received while submitting complaints to various government officials. He had to face more defeats than victories in his legal fight. However, he had the spirit to take the fight till the final Supreme Court verdict. It has been years since the Supreme Court had asked the High court to conduct inquiry into some illegal constructions in Kochi. Antony is now busy making preparation to move the Supreme Court against the delay in taking up this case.
Who is M V ANTONY?
Even the vague knowledge public have about the man must have been gleaned from the last, seemingly insignificant, line in many news reports that said it was Chelavannoor native M V Antony who was the complainant. He is just another ordinary man, born and brought up in the city of Kochi. When we met him he introduced himself as someone with not much of an education. However, he had acquired enough skills to understand any court verdict, orders or proceedings in a single reading. His main source of income was his ginger farm in the state of Karnataka. He also has income from small businesses carried out in different parts of the state. When we asked the question whether he had any fear of being harmed for taking up the cause, he answered that he did not fear anyone. He had even forgotten to marry as he was busy with court cases. His 'Umma' keeps insisting on marriage. But for Antony, marriage can still wait. There are many more legal fights to be won. A small peck on the cheek would calm his mother for the time being.