The Chandigarh unit of the Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Mayor Anup Gupta for getting a showcause notice by UT Estate Office for co-owning Godrej Eternia Building in Industrial Area Phase I. The Chandigarh Estate Office on Monday had issued a showcause notice against 15 landowners of Godrej Eternia Building, stating that the building plan and its occupation certificate have been obtained by “misrepresenting and concealing facts”. Gupta, while speaking to The Indian Express, on Monday had claimed that he was just one of the owners of the land and has nothing to do with the controversy. “The building was given to Godrej Eternia which did the entire paper work for the clearances required,” Gupta said. The Congress on Tuesday, in a statement released, alleged, "The Mayor abused his political connections to obtain occupation certificate and misrepresented material facts from the Estate Office Chandigarh." "The party also demands the immediate sealing of the building in question in view of gross violation of various mandatory regulations and absence of necessary clearance from National Board of wild life and compliance of section 20 of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006," the notice read. Contacted, Congress party spokesperson, Rajiv Sharma, stated that the arrogance of the city Mayor, who is also a senior BJP leader, is evident from the fact that a notice was served on him to submit clearance from the standing committee of National Board of Wildlife more than 10 years ago. But neither he or any of his associates ever cared to respond to the message." "Now when the State Environment Impact Committee has initiated action against the building owned by Gupta, accusing him of obtaining building plans and occupation certificates on the basis of invalid documents and other improprieties, the Chandigarh administration seems to have woken up from its slumber," Sharma said.
