12-A. Maintenance and improvement of façade of certain buildings abutting arterial roads 

(1) Where in any development area, any building occupied wholly for nonresidential purposes or partly for residential and partly for non-residential purposes abuts an arterial road, the occupier of such building shall be bound to repair, white-wash, colour-wash or paint the façade of such building at his own cost in accordance with any bye-laws made in that behalf.

(2) Where the authority, with a view to ensuring symmetry with any color-scheme or other specification made in that behalf considers it necessary or expedient so to do or where any occupier fails to repair, white-wash, colour-wash or paint the facade of any building in accordance with sub-section (1), it may by order require that the said work shall be carried out by the Authority itself or under its direction and may accordingly, also require the occupier to pay the cost of such work to the Authority.

(3) The cost of any work referred to in sub-section (2) shall be calculated on a ‘no profit no loss’ basis and in case of any dispute about the reasonableness of the amount required to be deposited, the same shall be decided by the State Government and subject thereto, the order of the Authority shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court (4) In case of non-payment by an occupier of the whole or part of the cost of any work referred to in sub-section (2), it shall on the certificate of the Vice Chairman, be recoverable from the occupier as arrears of land revenue.

Explanation—

In this section—

(a) the expression ‘arterial road’ shall have the meaning assigned to it in the bye-laws;

(b) the expression ‘occupier’, in relation to a building means the person in actual occupation or use of the building and includes—

(i) the owner (which expression shall include an agent or trustee or a receiver, sequestrator or manager appointed by a Court, or a mortgagee with possession of the buildings) in occupation;

(ii) the tenant who for the time being is paying or is liable to pay rent in respect thereof to the owner;

(iii) the rent-free grantee or licensee thereof;

(iv) the person who is liable to pay to the owner damages for unauthorized use and occupation thereof.]1