Builder sells same flat to multiple buyers, court receiver appointed

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) has appointed a court receiver for an under-construction high-rise building in Prabhadevi, after noting that the developer sold the same flat to multiple buyers and accepted huge sums of money from each of the purchases. Justice SJ Kathawalla, in the order passed on July 4, directed the court receiver to take possession of the land, along with the partly-constructed structure and submit the report to court.

“Before the flat purchasers are further defrauded by the developer (Kalpavruksha Developers) / defendant numbers 1 to 6 (directors of the firm), the need of the hour is to appoint the court receiver with respect to the project,” Kathawalla said.

The judge also directed the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police to immediately begin investigations and submit a report to him, if the purportedly defrauded flat purchasers chose to file complaints with it.

The judge was responding to pleas filed by three different flat purchasers, who alleged that they were cheated by the developer of crores of rupees.

According to the first petitioner, flat 701 in the building had been sold to SN Damani Property Development LLP in June 2015, and ₹4.99 crore was accepted towards part consideration of the flat. However, the flat had already been sold to another party in September 2012 to another party in exchange for a sum of ₹1.42 crore.

The second petitioner claimed that in November 2005, the developer had agreed to sell two flats, 1601 and 1801, to Shakti Holdings and had accepted ₹6.05 crores from them. However, the flat was then sold again to the two different people and the developer had accepted ₹1.75 crore from one of them.

In the third case, the petition was filed by an individual, who paid a total of ₹1.94 crores for flat 1701 between August 2005 and June 2008. The developer had executed a sale deed in his favour in May 2008, but then accepted₹1.75 crores and ₹6 crores, respectively, from two other individuals for the same flat in 2014.

According to the court order, the project has been at a standstill over the last four years.