MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has ordered demolition of the illegal bungalows of fugitive diamond traders and PNB scam accused Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in Raigad district, state environment minister Ramadas Kadam said on Tuesday.

The order comes days after the Bombay high court expressed its displeasure over the government not acting against the buildings. "The government has written to the ED, which has attached the bungalows, asking it to allow their demolition. They will be razed after we get the ED's go-ahead," an official said.

Kadam said 121 "illegal" bungalows, including those of Modi, Choksi and some celebrities, had been identified in Alibaug. He said these bungalows had come up in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone norms and without proper plan sanctioned by the authorities.

An official said Nirav Modi's bungalow was in Kihim village, while Choksi's was in Awaas village. Kadam said in the case of the other illegal bungalows, there were stays either granted by the district courts or the Bombay HC . "Because of the stay, we have now transferred the cases to the National Green Tribunal. Police will conduct the document verification in a month. All the cases in NGT are likely to be cleared in next 2-3 months," he said, clarifying that that as of now, no action would be taken against illegal bungalows built by locals.

On July 31, 2018, the high court heard a petition filed byan NGO on the state's inaction against the bungalows of celebrities and businessmen from Mumbai in the CRZ areas of villages in Alibaug.

