Govt is obliged to protect the interest of buyers

Expressing concern over lakhs of homebuyers across the country being cheated by builders and facing uncertainty, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that government cannot leave them in lurch to fight legal battle against real estate giant and it is “obliged” to intervene to protect their interest. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said that it is the obligation of the government to protect its citizens who belong to middle class family and invested their hard earned money in buying flats but got cheated by builders and facing uncertainty. While hearing a batch of petition filed by homebuyers who have been fighting legal battle against Unitech for almost three years, the bench said that the management of the group along with its 46 subsidiaries should be taken over by the Centre to get the housing projects completed. The bench asked the Attorney General to assist the court on the issue and requested him to hold consultation with concerned department to frame a mechanism to protect the interest of buyers. “We are answerable to homebuyers who are looking at us with expectation on what we are doing to protect their interest. We will ask the government to take over the management of the group. There are responsible government undertakings that will take over the group and complete the construction. The government is obliged to protect the buyers,” the court said.