Bombay Dyeing has breached section 12 & 18 of RERA act
In a significant order, Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal held that section 12 of Rera that deals with 'obligations of promoter regarding veracity of the advertisement' and permits "affected' buyers to withdraw from a project with refund of amount paid, would apply "retroactively'' in ongoing projects even when agreements for sale were transacted much prior to the Act coming into force. The Tribunal granted part relief to about a dozen-odd buyers who had booked flats in 2012-13 in an uber-luxurious 85-storeyed skyscraper at Wadala and held "The promoter (Bombay Dyeing) has committed a breach of section 12 and 18 ( provides for refund to buyers when delay in possession) of Rera and allotees are entitled to withdraw from project and get refund with interest from promoter.'' Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co Ltd, the promoters of the project called 'Island City Centre' at Spring Mills Compound in Wadala immediately filed appeals before the Bombay high court to challenge the correctness of the Tribunal's findings. Vikram Trivedi, managing partner of law firm MKA & Co representing a buyer on Friday, said "with the restrictions due to corona virus, the matter in the HC is unlikely to be come up soon, unless any urgent hearing is sought by the developer." In a common Judgment with two separately reasoned but concurring views, the tribunal comprising Sumant Kolhe and SS Sandhu overturned orders passed in January 2019 by MahaRERA chairperson Gautam Chaterjee. It permitted in 11 cases the cancellation of allotment letters and directed the builder, Bombay Dyeing to refund their booking amount of Rs 2 crore each with two percent more interest than the highest lending rate of State Bank of India (SBI). It held that section 12 would kick in even if buyers had booked flats well before the Rera Act was passed. Section 12 provides for compensation by promoter to a person who "sustains any loss or damage'' due to "incorrect statement included in an advertisement or project prospectus. It also provides refund of entire investment with interest if a buyer wishes to withdraw from project on being "affected'' by the advertisement. The operative part of the Tribunal's ruling was given last December but the reasoned judgment made available a week ago.
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