8 yrs on, CR employee to get her Borivli flat

ROOPAL MISTRY AND HER HUSBAND HAD BOUGHT THE 396-SQ FT FLAT IN 2010 FOR ₹26L AND WERE PROMISED POSSESSION BY 2013

MUMBAI: The state consumer commission recently directed a developer to hand over a Borivli (East) flat which a Thane-based central railway (CR) employee and her husband had purchased in 2010, by March 8. The couple had been promised possession of the flat by February 2013.

The commission, on January 8, also directed the Borivli-based developer to pay ₹3 lakh to the couple towards mental agony and ₹25,000 for petition costs.

Roopal Mistry and her husband Jignesh had bought the 396-sq ft flat in 2010 for ₹26.28 lakh. When they did not get the possession, they approached the commission in August 2014. The developer’s advocates argued that Mistry is a CR employee staying at a railway quarter and had purchased the flat for investment. They claimed that thus, the Mistrys were not consumers. They further argued that the commission does not have the jurisdiction over the matter.

The commission, however, held that as the complainants hired the builder’s services to purchase the flat, they are consumers by definition under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

The defence also submitted there was a delay in the construction as sand was not available and there was a royalty issue pending for almost four months. They also argued that there was delay in payment on the part of the Mistrys. However, the commission held that the delay in payment cannot be the grounds for delay in granting possession of flat. There is deficiency in the builder’s service, the commission noted, directing him to hand over the possession of the flat before March 8.