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.