Bengaluru: After a 12-year delay, 73-year-old Devki Nandan is finally set to getting possession of his dream villa in Whitefield. The Karnataka Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (REAT) last month ordered Sterling Urban Developers Pvt Ltd to hand over possession of the villa in the premium gated community off Whitefield-Hoskote Road.
Devki, who is from Gurugram, Haryana, had entered into an agreement with the builder on Sept 6, 2012, for the purchase of Villa C-92 for Rs 3.2 crore, along with maintenance costs. As per the agreement, the possession was to be completed by Dec 2013. However, despite registering the absolute sale deed for the villa on Jan 27, 2014, the developer failed to deliver physical possession of the property.
Over the years, Devki made repeated inquiries and followed up persistently with the builder but was met only with vague responses and delays. Despite a possession letter being issued on April 24, 2013, the allottee claimed it was merely a formality for tax benefits and didn’t reflect actual handover. Payments continued until March 18, 2017 by which time Devki had paid slightly over Rs 3.2 crore, yet the villa never came into his possession.
After years of follow-up and no result, Devki approached the Karnataka Real Estate Regulation Authority (RERA) on Jan 6, 2021, seeking physical possession, a waiver of maintenance charges, and compensation for harassment and prolonged delay. However, RERA dismissed the complaint on May 2, 2023, citing that the project had received a partial occupancy certificate (OC) on Jan 20, 2017, and was deemed completed by March 27, 2017, before the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.
Devki then challenged the decision before the appellate tribunal. His counsel argued that the project remained incomplete, and a partial OC clearly indicated that all development works weren’t completed. The builder contended that the project was completed before the RERA Act came into effect, and the complaint wasn’t maintainable under the law.
After reviewing the evidence, the tribunal found merit in the allottee’s arguments. It observed that the project couldn’t be considered fully complete since all obligations under the sanctioned plan weren’t fulfilled.
REAT, on April 8, set aside the RERA order and directed Sterling Urban Developers to hand over physical possession of Villa C-96 within one month and pay the delay period interest at the State Bank of India’s highest marginal cost of lending rate plus 2% until possession is delivered. Additionally, any maintenance dues for the intervening period will have to be borne by the promoter.