Authorities had issued a demolition notice in 2016 for the three-storey building in Lucknow that was gutted in a fire on Monday, killing 15 people, but the order was revoked within two months.
The fire broke out on Monday afternoon in the commercial building, which houses an animation centre, in Sector D of the upscale Aliganj Scheme locality. Most of those deceased are students.
According to a statement issued by the Uttar Pradesh government, the approximately 1,992-square-foot property was originally allotted on July 11, 1980, to Vijay Kumar, son of Rameshwar Sahay, under a hire-purchase scheme through a lottery system.
The property was registered in the names of Vijay Kumar and his wife, Usha, through a sale deed in 2005. It was subsequently sold to Virendra Pratap Shukla and Surendra Pratap Shukla on January 19, 2013.
The building received approval for a residential-use plan on August 20, 2014, under the self-certification building plan scheme. However, after authorities detected unauthorised construction on the premises, the Lucknow Development Authority initiated proceedings against Virendra Pratap Shukla.
Following an investigation, a demolition order was issued on May 10, 2016, against the unauthorised construction. Yet, less than two months later, on July 5, 2016, the order was revoked, raising questions about the circumstances and rationale behind the reversal, the government statement said.
Four individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident. According to officials, all four accused are joint owners of the building.
Uttar Pradesh Urban Development and Energy Minister A.K. Sharma said preliminary findings indicate that the fire may have originated in the building's air-conditioning duct. The resulting smoke is believed to have caused suffocation, which was exacerbated by the absence of a proper emergency exit route.
Sharma said authorities would investigate possible violations of building safety norms and construction standards.
Meanwhile, reports said that around two dozen cats and dogs housed at a pet facility operating from the building's ground floor and basement were also caught in the blaze. Most of the animals were rescued in time, though four or five trapped in the basement could not be saved.
