West Bengal Estate Appellate Tribunal (Tribunal) bank including Justice Rabindranath Samanta (Chairman), Gour Sunder Banerjee (Judicial Member) and Dr. Subrat Mukherjee (Administrative member) provided relief to the plaintiff who purchased four plots by paying advance money in the builder’s mini-community project and expected possession by November 2016.

The Tribunal upheld the order of the Authority directing the builder to refund the principal amount of Rs. 44,08,600/- paid by the plaintiff for the purchase of plots, along with Rs. 12,04,849/- as interest.

Background facts

Attracted by the advertisement of the builder (appellant), the plaintiff (respondent) booked a plot of land in the builder’s project located at Shyamnagar in North-24-Parganas district near Kalyani highway for Rs. 10,61,600. An agreement was signed on 19 January 2014 with a balance of Rs. 7,43,120 payable in 36 monthly installments.

The plaintiff also reserved Seats no. 221, 232 and 233, paying advances and agreeing to pay the balance in monthly installments.

Despite paying the amounts for all the four plots in full, the builder failed to execute and register the Sale Deeds. After repeated requests, the builder only sent draft documents. However, before finalizing the terms, the builder unilaterally canceled all contracts and waived the amounts paid.

Being injured, the applicant lodged complaints with the authority. The authority by its order of 21.06.23 ordered the builder to return the amount paid by the plaintiff with interest. Accordingly, Builder appealed to the court.

Observation and Direction by the Tribunal

The Tribunal observed that the builder had miserably failed to complete the project in accordance with law and could not deliver the lands to the plaintiff as per the Sale Agreements. Therefore, the plaintiff is entitled to recover the amount paid to the builder with statutory interest under section 18 of RERA, 2016.

The Tribunal noted that the complainant had filed these complaints under the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act, 2017 which was held ultra vires by the Supreme Court on May 4, 2021. Consequently, the cases registered under this act were transferred to the WB RERA constituted under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. The Tribunal therefore upheld the authority’s decision to admit the complainant’s complaints .

The Tribunal therefore dismissed the builder’s appeal with costs and upheld the authority’s order dated 21.06.2023 directing the builder to repay the principal amount of Rs. 44,08,600/- paid by the plaintiff for the purchase of lands along with Rs. 12,04,849/- as interest.

Case Title – M/s Janapriyo Real Estate Pvt. Ltd. Versus Arindam Mitra

Reference – WBREAT/APPEAL NO. — 06/2023

Order date – 10.05.2024

Click here to read/download the order