KELSA moves HC to form panel

KOCHI: The Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA), which took the initiative to mediate in the Apple-A-Day properties fraud case, has requested the Kerala High Court to constitute a committee to monitor the completion of the pending projects.According to KELSA office-bearers, the committee should include an engineer, an architect, an accountant, a representative of the flat owners and the deputy secretary of  KELSA under the overall supervision of the court.The KELSA on Monday submitted a report before the Kerala High Court on the progress in the mediation so far. It is stated in the report that 187 investors have approached the KELSA so far for the mediation process which was initiated in December 2011. “As part of the mediation, the company owners were asked to submit a surety of `5 crore and they submitted a cheque of `2 crore and a surety of `50 lakh,” the report said.It is further stated that all the 19 pending projects could be completed within four to 24 months. The report also suggests that the 24-storey Apple Ice project should be reduced to 12 storeys, as the remaining apartments are not booked.