Supreme Court orders, delayed houses can’t be forced to be obtained by home buyers.

By Abhay Shah, Realty Quarter

A builder cannot “force” a buyer to take over a ready house if it is postponed. The Supreme Court ordered that the client will seek a refund.

Making an order from the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission to a builder based in Pune, the SC bench comprising Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran stated, “While the villa is ready to be occupied (as the appellants affirm), the delay of almost five years is an important factor and the negotiations can now be imposed on the participants. Therefore, it was justified for the participants to seek a refund of the amounts that were deposited with reasonable interest. Moreover, the Commission’s findings cannot be said to be wrong or unreasonable at any cost.

Another case was reported on Sunday where the NCDRC had said that a home buyer was free to take possession of his / her flat in a delayed housing project or seek a refund, and a builder could not refuse to return the amount on the ground that the flat was ready. In a case concerning a project in Gurgaon, this order was enacted.

The SC order came into force, in relation to a project in Pune, Marvel Selva Ridge Estate. In July 2012, the developer, Marvel Omega Builders, sold a villa to one Shrihari Gokhale and the builder pledged to hand over the villa by 31 December 2014. In 2016, Gokhale lodged a complaint with the NCDRC requesting a refund of Rs 13.24 crore. The builder challenged the NCDRC order in the SC to refund Rs 8.14 crore principal amount to Gokhale along with 10% annual interest. When the matter went up for hearing, a lawyer from the builder side said that the villa was prepared and the certificate of completion would be received within 21 days. Observing that there was a complete failure on the part of the builder and a lack of rendering facilities, the SC instructed the builder neither to sell the villa reserved by Gokhale nor to establish any third party privileges, until the order was executed. It also said that the villa will be under attachment until the order gets fully complied with.