Home Buyers
Legal Options For A Home Buyer Who Is Forced To Take Possession In A Project Without OC
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Legal Options For A Home Buyer Who Is Forced To Take Possession In A Project Without OC
Approach RERA
Under the provisions of the realty law, developers are obliged to obtain an OC before handing the unit over to buyers. Offering possession in a project for which, the application for an OC is still being processed is a breach of the real estate law and a buyer has every right to move the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in his state to seek relief.
Note that all buildings that are yet to receive an OC, would be considered as under-construction. So, your plea would certainly be admitted in case your state has an operational RERA. Authorities in some states including Maharashtra and Haryana have also shown their willingness to offer relief in cases where a project is too small to fit under the purview of the law.
In case your state is yet to have a fully-operational real estate authority ─ West Bengal, for instance, has entered into a legal tussle to enact its own version of the central law and is far from having an authority that could work as yet ─ there are other platforms you could approach.
Move The Consumer Court
Recently, the Maharashtra State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission offered relief to a Titwala-based homebuyer who was pressed into taking possession of the flat without OC. State laws give consumer forums the authority to take up the matter and provide relief to the aggrieved party. Since the state commission works through a three-tier system, a consumer has to first move to the district level court and then approach the state and the national forums if he is not satisfied with the orders of the lower courts. Value of the property also determines whether or not you can approach the apex body directly.
Lodge An FIR
A homebuyer could lodge an FIR against the builder under Section 405 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with 'criminal breach of trust.' Following this, an arrest warrant could be issued against the developer and he could be tried in court.
“In case the police refused to lodge the complaint, the homebuyer can also seek relief from the court under Section 156(3) of the IPC which authorises courts to direct the police to lodge an FIR,” points out Prabhanshu Mishra, a Lucknow-based criminal lawyer.
- by Sunita Mishra
Source : PropTiger
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