E-Paper
GMADA to pay ₹1.35 lakh to Chandigarh resident for delay in plot’s possession
Terming GMADA guilty of causing the Chandigarh resident mental agony and harassment due to the delay, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-1 has directed it to pay ₹1 lakh as compensation and ₹35,000 as litigation expenses
Amid a slew of delayed possessions by private developers, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has also found itself in hot water for not handing over possession of a 256 square yards residential plot within the promised one year.
Terming the authority guilty of causing the allottee mental agony and harassment due to the delay, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-1 has directed it to pay ₹1 lakh as compensation and ₹35,000 as litigation expenses.
The order came on the plea of Rahat Khanna, 38, a resident of Sector 49-A, Chandigarh.
Khanna had complained that he was one of the successful applicants in the draw of lots for 750 residential plots at GMADA’s IT City in Sector 83, Mohali, on September 21, 2016. A letter of intent (LoI) was issued and he had paid the due ₹59 lakh to the development authority.
Khanna submitted that as per Clause 15 of the LoI, the physical possession of the plot was to be handed over within one year from the date of issuance of LoI. But the allotment letter for a 256 square yards plot came only on December 29, 2020, after a delay of four years.
GMADA chief administrator and estate officer (IT City), who were listed as opposite parties (OPs) in the suit, in their reply admitted the factual matrix of the case. However, they stated that if the complainant was aggrieved with the development works of this scheme, then as per Clause number 27 of the allotment letter, he could have refused to accept the allotment offer within 30 days.
In that case, the money paid by him could have been refunded to him as per rules, but at this stage, after accepting the plot’s possession, he cannot raise the issue of delay in delivery of plot.
“Further, since he has accepted the possession of plot offered through allotment letter, the complainant has accepted performance of the contractual obligations in a manner otherwise than agreed. Thus, the complainant is stopped by his own conduct from alleging delay in delivery of possession of plot,” they claimed.
However, the consumer commission observed that it was GMADA’s responsibility to hand over the plot latest by November 10, 2017, after the completion of development works. It added that the OPs made false representations, which were materially incorrect, and the complainant was involved in a disadvantageous contract, leading to financial loss, mental agony and physical harassment.
“Non-delivery of possession of plots/units in a developed project by the promised date is a material violation on the part of a builder/developer,” the commission observed.
Directing GMADA to pay ₹1.35 lakh as compensation to the complainant, the commission also ordered the authority to pay interest at the rate of 9% from the date of handing over possession.
