National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC): The Bench of Justice V.K. Jain (Presiding Member) while deciding the issues revolving around purchase of a residential flat, rejected the instant appeal preferred by Magnolia Infrastructure, after being aggrieved by the Order passed by the State Commission to hand over the constructed property to the complainants.
The complainants entered into a MoU with the appellant, for the purchase of a residential flat for a consideration of Rs 40,26,200 by paying an initial amount of Rs 12,45,183. According to the agreement, the area of the flat had to be 1114 sq. feet and the possession was to be handed over by June 2015, with a grace period of six months available to the builder. However, the size of the flat was contested to be smaller than the agreed size by the complainant. The complainant further stated that and the construction of the flat was incomplete, therefore, the complainant went to the State Commission, who found these contestations to be genuine and legible and ordered the builders to pay the compensation for the alleged violation of the agreement. The appellants (builders) were represented by Sanjoy Kumar Ghosh and Barun Prasad, while the respondent (complainant) appeared for himself before the Commission. The counsel for the appellant challenged the State Commission’s Order by contesting the area of the flat to be of the agreed size and the certificate/completion certificate of the flat allotted to the complainant.
Commission decided that the area measurement conducted by the person appointed by the State Commission was correct and that there was actual shortage in the area of the flat as the constructed flat’s size was found to be 997 sq. feet. For the second issue, the Commission observed that the flat was already constructed and lying vacant thereby serving no purpose.
Since, the State Commission is yet to verify that whether Rajarhat Municipal Corporation is competent to issue the occupancy certificate and whether had actually issued the said occupancy certificate dated 21-07-2014, the Commission held that the possession of the residential flat should be handed over to the complainant till this question is decided by the State Commission. [Mangolia Infrastructure Development Ltd. v. Sandipan Santra, FA No. 2084 of 2018, decided on 14-07-2020]
