Relief for 800 flat owners: Zirakpur housing society excluded from PACL attached properties
Relief for 800: Nirmal Chhaya flat owners allowed to register, transfer their flats.
More than 800 flat owners in Nirmal Chhaya, a residential group housing project, located in Zirakpur, got major relief after a Supreme Court appointed officer, a retired judge, excluded the project from the list of properties attached in the PACL (Pearls Infrastructure Projects) matter.
The registration of properties in the project were stopped by the local registrar of properties after the recovery officer, Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in September 2016, directed, “The registration authorities of all the state and Union Territories not to act upon any document purporting to be dealing with transfer of properties by PACL Limited and/or the group/associate entities of PACL Limited.”
SC prohibited selling of property in 2016
A Supreme Court July 2016 order restrained PACL Ltd and/or its directors, promoters/agents/employees/group and/or associate companies from selling/transferring/alienating any of the properties wherein PACL has, in any manner, a right/interest whether situated within or outside India.
In an earlier order in February 2016 the apex court had directed sale of properties of PACL Limited under the committee headed by justice RM Lodha (retd).
Residents approached judge
Against the recovery officer order, 48 residents of the project approached RS Virk, a retired judge, appointed by the Supreme Court to hear objections/representations in the matter of PACL Ltd.
The residents challenged the recovery officer order on the grounds that the builder had already handed over the project to the resident welfare association, completion certificate had also been granted, full payments have been made by the allottees and possessions have also been handed over and so there was no relation of PACL with the project Nirmal Chhaya. But the local registrar still was not executing the registries of the flats, causing harassment to the owners.
‘PACL does not control Nirmal Chhaya’
Counsel for the 48 petitioner in the case, Mandeep Singh Khillan said, “RS Virk, retired judge, appointed by the Supreme Court, considered the argument and passed the order stating that after perusal of the list of various properties numbering 29,087 attached under orders of
Justice (retd) RM Lodha committee in PACL matters reveals that the above described project is not included in the said properties situated all over India as belonging to or controlled by PACL nor is the aforesaid project included in the list of 639 subsidiaries/associates of PACL India as forwarded by PACL to SEBI.”
He added, “In view of this recovery officer order is not applicable to Nirmal Chhaya.”
Virender Gandhi, one of the petitioners and flat owners, said, “Flat owners despite making payment of requisite amounts to the builder were unable to get the sale deeds of their respective units registered in their names. This was causing harassment in matters of raising house loans and resale of such units.”