The Supreme Court on Friday directed Parsvnath Developers to hand over possession of a flat in its Gurgaon project to Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in two days. The firm was supposed to deliver the flat to Rathore in 2008-09.
A bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy said “the possession of the flat shall be handed over to the respondent in two days" and that Rathore need not pay any more money to the developer.
The apex court said the issue of compensation to be paid by the realty firm to Rathore for the delayed possession would be dealt with at a later stage of the hearing.
During the hearing, the counsel for the builder said the flat was ready and they could hand over possession.
Rathore had booked a flat in Parsvnath's Exotica project in Gurgaon in 2006 and had paid around Rs 70 lakh for it. The firm was to deliver the flat in 2008-09.
In January this year, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) had directed the builder to pay the principal amount, interest and compensation to Rathore.
Earlier, the apex court had rapped real estate firms for making tall claims to purchasers which remained unfulfilled due to the inordinate delays in completing housing projects.
The court had on 18 October directed the SC registry to disburse Rs 12 crore, deposited by real estate firm Parsvnath Buildwell Pvt Ltd, to 70 home buyers on a pro-rata basis after proper identification. The 70 home buyers had booked flats in the Exotica project in Ghaziabad.
It had also directed the firm to deposit Rs 10 crore by 10 December with the Supreme Court registry.
The apex court's observation had come after Parsvnath Buildwell Pvt Ltd had said it would give the flats to the 70 home buyers by 17 December.
The Supreme Court had on 15 September directed the firm to deposit Rs 12 crore within four weeks as interest for delaying giving possession of the flats to the 70 home buyers.
On 26 August, the developer had told the court that they were in "serious financial difficulty" as they had suffered a loss of around Rs 400 crore last year. They had also said they would hand over possession of the flats in the delayed Exotica project within a year.
The firm was asked by the apex consumer commission in May to refund the principal amount in four weeks with 12 per cent interest, Rs 3 lakh as compensation and Rs 25,000 as litigation cost to the 70 home buyers.
The court was also informed that 854 flats were to be constructed in the project and 818 people had made bookings.
Parsvnath Developers had moved the apex court against the apex consumer commission's order asking it to refund the money to the 70 home buyers along with interest.
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