National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC): Anup Thakur (Presiding Member), held that a person who purchases a fully constructed real estate property (a Villa in the present case) with eyes wide open, cannot subsequently claim what all was offered in the original brochure.
Gist of the Case
In the instant matter, appellants case was that the complainant was an individual who had bought and moved into his villa in April, 2013 with his eyes wide open, under a specific agreement.
In light of the above, complainants could not file and maintain a consumer complaint qua the common items/concerns of all the other residents of the project.
Senior Counsel for the Appellants raised the following issues:
(i) Whether after having taken possession of the Villa, it was permissible to raise grievances regarding defects, given that the complainants had purchased an already constructed villa and had thus done so with their eyes wide open;
(ii) Whether the complainant, being one individual occupying one villa from out of 97 villas and 47 apartments in a housing complex could seek reliefs affecting all other residents, through an individual consumer complaint;
(iii) a sub-issue was whether the State Commission could have granted both reliefs which were, in fact, sought as an alternative to each other.
Analysis and Decision
Bench stated that complainant’s grievance qua the clubhouse as being only for the exclusive use of the residents of the villa, to the exclusive of all others, cannot stand. As per the agreement referred above, the complainant was provided with the facility of a clubhouse and he had paid a fee for it, in a similar manner, others including the apartment owners had also paid a fee for the use of the clubhouse.
Therefore, the Commission was unable to understand regarding how the complainant, in his individual capacity was claiming exclusiveness of the clubhouse only for the residents of the villa.
With regarding making demands by referring to the brochure, Commission answered the complainant that as far as the complainant was concerned, he visited the site, the villa, liked what he saw, signed an agreement, and was given possession of that, within a few months. The complainant clearly did all this with his eyes wide open. It was therefore not for him to now refer to what all had been promised in the brochure(s) and start making demands based on that.
Bench on perusal of the record opined that the instant appeal against the impugned order of the State Commission deserved consideration and could be partly allowed.
State Commission’s Order
Firstly the OP was directed to pay a consolidated amount of Rs 2 Lakh as compensation for the defects and deficiencies in the construction. The said order was evidence-based and for the said reason it is to be upheld.
Bench in view of the above considered it just that the amount of Rs 2 lakh be paid with simple interest of 6% per annum.
Bench however did not agree with the rest of the State Commission’s Order viz.
- restraining OP from extending the clubhouse facilities to others,
- directing the OPs to construct 6’ feet high boundary wall on the fourth remaining side of the campus
- directing the OPs to construct 30’ X 40’ CC road at the entrance and in the entire campus.
Commission expressed that there was nothing in the complaint petition to show that there was even a claim that all other villa residents were of the same view. Indeed, if this had been the case, the complainant would have then filed a joint complaint or have come through the Association of villa owners.
Bench appreciated that the complainants had signed the agreement, after applying their mind to the aspects of community living in a villa in a project which had 96 other villas and that they were not the original allottees; rather, they came in January 2013, saw the villa, were satisfied with what they saw and were told, and then, with eyes wide open, signed the agreement.
The agreement in itself clearly spelt out that it would alone henceforth govern the relationship between the complainant and the OP.
Clause 4 of the agreement made the above aspect abundantly clear:
“4. The purchaser has applied for allotment of Villa No. 17 in the above said scheme “Manglam’s Arpan” and the seller has agreed to allot to the purchaser Villa/Shop in the said Scheme on the following terms & conditions. All other agreements and/or arrangements or letters, assurances written, oral or implied hereto, sales brochures, newspapers advertisements, etc. before made and which are in any way contradictory to or inconsistent with this agreement shall have no effect. The sellers hereby agrees to sell Purchaser hereby agrees to purchase on terms &conditions mentioned in this Agreement.”
Bench concluded that the complainants in light of the agreement could not have laid any claim to what was promised in the brochure. Along with this, the Commission added that the complainant could not have certainly claimed anything of behalf of themselves as well as on behalf of other residents and that too since December 2012, when they were nowhere in the picture.
A narrative which goes beyond what falls in the domain of the individual complainant can still have relevance but confined strictly to what directly affects the complainant, not beyond that.
The commission while partly allowing the appeal, laid down the following directions:
(i) order of the State Commission in para 19 (a), directing the OPs to pay to the complainants a consolidated amount of Rs 2 lakh as compensation for defects and deficiencies in construction, is upheld;
(ii) This amount of Rs.2 lakh shall carry interest @ 6% p.a. from the date of the impugned order of the State Commission, till the date of actual payment;
(iii) Rest of the order of the State Commission relating to common facilities and costs is set aside.
[Manglam Build-Developers Ltd. v. Aviral Mathur, 2021 SCC OnLine NCDRC 15, decided on 12-01-2021]
Advocates who represented the parties:
For the Appellant: Sukumar Pattjoshi, Sr. Adv. with Sunil Mund, Advocate
For the Respondent: Debesh Panda, Advocate with Naman Maheshwari, Advocate
