The Kochi Corporation Council that met on Thursday decided to cancel
the No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued to a hotel near Vyttila for
opening a bar. Announcing the decision here at the special council
meeting, Mayor Tony Chammany said that there were various technical
flaws emerged out of human errors in the certificate issued by the
Corporation authorities.

The meeting also witnessed unruly scenes
as the opposition members alleged that the decision to issue the NOC was
taken without considering the dissent note given by them. The
opposition councillors walked towards the Mayor’s chamber shouting
slogans. They alleged that the decision to cancel the NOC was an attempt
to mislead the High Court.

“The NOC was issued against the norms,
without holding discussions at the Council. Now, the decision to cancel
the NOC at a special council meeting really will not have any effect if
the  hotel owner approaches the Court and obtain a stay. So, a probe
should be ordered to find out who is responsible for the error and who
issued the NOC,” said opposition councillor M Anil Kumar.

Meanwhile,in
his reply, Mayor Tony Chammany said that the decision to cancel the NoC
was taken after the Council had found out that there were some
‘technical and ethical’ lapses in the matter. “It was on January 31,
2013, that the application for the NOC was submitted. It was included in
the agenda of the Council meeting held on February 11. We took the
decision to issue the NOC after holding detailed discussions. But the
opposition  staged a walkout,” Chammany said.