'Failed To Handover Possession Despite 90% Payment': SC Directs Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd. To Handover Possession To Homebuyers
|The Supreme Court directed Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd. (Developer) to handover the possession of the flats to homebuyers who had made payment of 90% of the total sale consideration.
The Court set aside the directive issued by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), which allowed the Developer to charge interest on the outstanding amount owed by the homebuyers.
Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta observed, “In this background, we are of the view that the learned Commission erred in directing that the opposite party i.e. respondent-developer shall be entitled to charge interest @9% per annum from the appellants-homebuyers on the balance amount (except stamp duty and registration charges) from 14th November, 2017 till the date of payment.”
Advocate Akshay Srivastava represented the appellants, while AOR T. V. S. Raghavendra Sreyas appeared for the respondents.
The NCDRC’s order granted the Developer the liberty to impose a 9% per annum interest rate on the balance amount, excluding stamp duty and registration charges until payment on the homebuyers.
“Thus, the said part of the impugned order whereby, the respondent-developer has been permitted to charge interest at the rate of 9% per annum on the balance amount is quashed and set aside,” the Court held.
The Court noted that the homebuyers had paid 90% of the total sale consideration for the flat in question by 2014. However, the developer failed to fulfill its obligation to hand over possession of the flat to the homebuyers by the agreed-upon date in the same year following which the consumer dispute was registered.
The Court directed the Developer to convey the outstanding amount to the homebuyers and “upon payment being made, the possession of the flat in question shall be handed over to the appellants forthwith and not later than a period of 30 days from the date of final payment being made.”
Accordingly, the Supreme Court disposed of the appeal.
Cause Title: Sanjay Chaudhary & Anr. v. Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd. & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 300)
Appearance:
Appellants: AOR Gaurav Goel; Advocates Akshay Srivastava, Aditya Parolia, Piyush Singh, Kashish Sareen, Sumbul Ismail and Rajesh Kumar
Respondents: AOR T. V. S. Raghavendra Sreyas; Advocate Siddharth Vasudev