Bihar REAT regulations RERA cannot appoint officers on its own, as a ‘private limited corporation’ can.

NEW DELHI: The state Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (BREAT) has issued a reality check on the powers of Bihar’s real estate regulatory authority, saying the authority, or RERA cannot choose “officers and employees” like a “private limited company” can. It stated that all such appointments may only be made by the state government after consulting with the authority.

The order may serve as a precedent for RERAs around the country to intervene against appointments made independently.

The two-member BREAT bench issued this ruling while hearing an appeal by a private developer against an execution order granted by a senior legal expert to give Asha Verma possession of an apartment.

The RERA bench, which included its chairman and one of its members (Nupur Banerjee), dismissed Verma’s complaint in September 2022, ordering the builder to hand over control of the landowner’s portion of flats within 30 days of the order’s issuance. According to the agreement between the landowner and the builder, she was meant to receive eight units.

Only seven flats were handed delivered by the constructor. As a result, Verma petitioned the RERA for order execution. Despite the fact that RERA member Nupur Banerjee imitated the execution matter, the case was shifted to Ved Prakash, the authority’s senior legal expert, throughout the pendency. Prakash issued the order, which the builder contested.

The attorney for the builder contended that the senior legal consultant lacked the authority to engage with judicial proceedings.

However, RERA lawyers contended that the execution matter was handed over to the senior legal consultant since the authority has the ability to delegate any execution matter standing before the authority to any member, official, or other person.

However, the BREAT rejected the claim, stating that no officer or employee of the RERA will be nominated by the authority on its own and that only the state government has the ability to appoint such officers and workers in conjunction with the authority. The appointment of the senior legal counsel was deemed “illegal” by the court.

The BREAT asked the registrar to forward a copy of the ruling to the principal secretary of the urban development department so that suitable corrective measures may be taken to ensure that the improper appointment was reversed.

“The authority cannot make any such decision on its own because it is not a private limited company but rather a subsidiary of the state, a regulatory organization established through the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 passed by the Parliament,” it noted of RERA’s jurisdiction.

This is a severe concern, and no such illegitimate appointees should be allowed to perform quasi-judicial or judicial functions, such as conducting execution proceedings, as in this case.”