Jabalpur, Feb 14 In a ruling that clarifies procedural pathways under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur has directed an aggrieved homebuyer to approach the appropriate forum for executing a delayed possession order against a builder.
A bench of Justice Vishal Mishra; presiding over the Writ Petition, disposed of the case on Thursday, emphasising the doctrine of merger in appellate orders.
The dispute originated from a homebuyer GP Gupta's complaint to the Madhya Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) against the builder, who neither completed the flat on time nor paid contractual interest.
RERA initially ordered possession within three months and referred compensation to an adjudicating officer, who favoured the complainant.
Appeals followed, culminating in the Appellate Tribunal's November 19, 2020, directive; "directed the builder to deliver possession within two months and to pay interest at the rate of 9 per cent on Rs 40 lakh till possession."
Despite execution proceedings at RERA, compliance lagged, prompting the complainant's High Court plea for a mandamus to enforce the Tribunal's order dated 19.11.2020 and a subsequent RERA member order from July 10, 2024, or alternatively, a reasoned decision on his representations.
Respondents, including RERA and the builder, contested maintainability. They invoked Section 57 of the RERA Act, which states: "Every order made by the Appellate Tribunal under this Act shall be executable by the Appellate Tribunal as a decree of civil court, and for this purpose, the Appellate Tribunal shall have all the powers of a civil court."
The court concurred, noting Gupta had "approached the wrong forum i.e. RERA authority" for execution.
Justice Mishra observed, "The fact remains that the original order has merged into the appellate order. It is for the Appellate Tribunal to consider the application filed by the petitioner for execution of the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal."
He added, "Under these circumstances, no direction can be issued to the RERA authority to expedite the proceedings of the execution of the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal."
Granting liberty, the court said, "However, the petitioner is at liberty to approach the MP Real Estate Appellate Tribunal seeking execution of the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal in accordance with law."
Gupta, appearing in person, committed to filing within 15 days, requesting a time-bound decision.
With no objections from respondents, the court directed, "If such an application is filed, the Appellate Tribunal is directed to consider and decide the same in accordance with law within a period of 90 days thereafter."
This judgment may guide similar cases, reinforcing that appellate orders supersede originals under RERA, potentially streamlining enforcement for homebuyers facing builder non-compliance.
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