New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to modify its order directing builder Parsvnath Buildwell to return money paid by 70 flat buyers in its Parsvnath Exotica project in Ghaziabad, seeking a schedule for the refund even as the firm pleaded such a course would create serious and irreversible conditions for it.
In other case, the Supreme Court ordered real estate giant DLF to pay 9 per cent interest to 50 buyers for the delay in handing over possession of flats in Haryana's Panchkula town, adjoining Chandigarh.
Unmoved by the builder's plea, the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice C Nagappan made some corrections in their August 12 order, recording that instead of 17 flat owners, there are 70 flat owners seeking a refund and the time schedule for this would be given to the court by senior counsel V Giri.
Appearing for Parsvnath, senior counsel Dushyant Dave told the court that there were 854 flats and money has been received from 818 flat buyers and if refund was allowed, then there would be a mad rush.
"It would amount to mad rush, everyone will seek money that we will not be able to pay," he said.
Telling the court that no one has paid the full money, only a part of it. By giving to 70 people it would create serious and irreversible condition, Dave urged the court to give the builder a year's time by when the possession of flats would be given to all the buyers.
He told the bench that the builder had approached the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) for sanction of revised plan in view of new stipulation permitting more forward rate agreement, but now we would do according to the earlier sanctioned plan.
"We are trying to find a way out," he stressed.
Appearing for the aggrieved 70 flat buyers, senior counsel M L Lahoty told the court that the booking for the project located in Mohan Nagar area of Ghaziabad district was done in 2007 and the project was to be completed in 2011.
He noted that the building plans sanctioned by the GDA were cancelled by the authority on August 26, 2015 and as such there was no sanctioned building plan.
Not saying anything on the submissions by Dave, the court made two corrections in its August 12 order and directed the further hearing of the matter on September 15.
A bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice C. Nagappan ordered the payment of interest on the amount paid by the flat buyers from three years after the signing of an agreement till the date of possession. The possession of flats was supposed to be given in 2013.
The court order came after senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for DLF, told it that the possession of 1,320 of the 1,473 flats had already been given and that the possession of the remaining 153 flats will be given by November 30.
The court modified a National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission order of June 6 for the payment of 12 per cent interest to the buyers for the delay.
However, the court said, failure on part of the realty giant will bring back the compensation provision under the agreement.
The commission had ordered the DLF to pay 12 per cent interest from the expiry of three years from the date of agreement till possession, besides a penalty of Rs 5,000 per day in case of further delay.
In another case, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to modify its earlier direction to builder Parsvnath Buildwell to return the money paid by 70 flat buyers in its Parsvnath Exotica project in Ghaziabad.
Unmoved by the builder's plea, the court made some corrections in its August 12 order, recording that instead of 17 flat owners, there are 70 flat owners seeking a refund.
