Homebuyers get relief for delays
Orders Unitech to pay ₹80K litigation cost to 39 owners who won cases against them
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Unitech to pay ₹80,000 to each of the 39 homebuyers who booked flats at the real estate giant’s Vistas project in Gurugram as compensation, inclusive of litigation charges.
Though the project was supposed to be handed over to homebuyers in 2012, it still remains under construction.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra issued the directive while disposing of Unitech’s appeal against a 2015 National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission order that imposed penalties on the company for delaying the delivery of flats.
The first-of-its-kind order is likely to add to Unitech’s woes. Company promoter Sanjay Chandra and his brother Ajay are already in jail in connection with a cheating case pertaining to another project. Their bail pleas have been rejected, and the Supreme Court has refused to release them until the complainants in the case have been paid. During one of the hearings, Chief Justice Misra said the company would have to either hand over the flats or refund the money by the end of the financial year.
The aggrieved parties in the Vistas project have already received a refund of the principal amount they invested, besides 14% interest from January 1, 2010, through a Supreme Court order in April.
The homebuyers, who had booked flats in 2009, moved the NCDRC in 2014 after Unitech failed to give possession of their flats. The consumer forum then directed the realtor to refund the principal along with 18% interest. Unitech appealed against this order in the Supreme Court.
Advocate Pawanshree Aggarwal, who assisted the court in the matter, told HT that the compensation amount was over-and-above the refund and interest the homebuyers have already received. “The money has to be handed over to the buyers within two months,” he said.
Aggarwal said Unitech has deposited ₹32.6 crore with the Supreme Court registry in connection with the case. “The principal amount was distributed on a pro-rata basis. If there is any balance left with the registry, it would be given out before the company makes payments,” he added. The SC had indicated that the interest payment for delay will not attract tax liability, according significant relief to buyers. It also warned Unitech of property attachment if it failed to deposit the interest amount.