MOHIT CHOPRA vs M/s UNITECH LIMITED & ORS.

The complainant booked a residential apartment with the OP in a project namely ''Harmony'' which the said OP is developing in Sector-50, Nirvana Country, Gurgaon. Apartment No.1102, admeasuring 3309 sq. ft. in Tower-4 of the above referred project was allotted to him for a total consideration of Rs.1,66,18,875/- and the parties entered into a Buyers Agreement dated 19.05.2010 incorporating their respective obligations. As per clause 4.a of the Agreement, the possession was to be delivered to the complainant by 31.03.2011, subject to force majeure circumstances. The grievance of the complainant is that despite he having already paid a sum of Rs.1,58,77,069/-, to the OP, the possession of the flat has not even been offered to him. The complainant is therefore, before this Commission seeking possession of the aforesaid flat alongwith compensation etc.

The complaint has been resisted by the OP on the grounds which this Commission has repeatedly rejected in a number of consumer complaints pertaining to this very project, including CC No.1088 of 2015, Raja Balasubramanian Vs. M/s Unitech Limited & Anr. decided on 18.04.2017 and CC No.368 of 2014 Shweta Kapoor & Anr. Vs. M/s Unitech Limited & Anr. decided on 14.01.2016. The delay in offering possession was sought to be justified on the following grounds in Shweta Kapoor (supra):

"1. Common Wealth Games during April, 2010 to March, 2011 - the Common Wealth Games were organized in the NCR region which resulted into an extreme shortage of labours in the region as most of the labour force was employed and / or was engaged by the Government to expedite the completion of the pending projects required for the Common Wealth Games.

Active implementation of social schemes like NREGA and JNNURM - In addition to the above due to active implementation of alluring and promising schemes floated by the Central and State Government, there was a sudden shortage of labour / workforce especially in the real estate market. The workforce / labour forces were tempted to return to their respective states due to the guaranteed employment.

Order dated 16.7.2012 passed by the Hon''ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana (hereinafter referred to as the "Order" - The above mentioned Order strictly restrained the usage of ground water and directed to use only treated water from available Sewerage Treatment Plants (hereinafter referred to as "STP" ). As the availability of STP, basic infrastructure and availability of water from STP, was very limited in comparison to the requirement of water in the ongoing constructions activities in NCR region.

This scarcity of an essential commodity for construction purposes made it difficult for the Opposite Parties to cope up with the pre-decided schedules as the availability of treated water became very limited and against the total requirement of water. It is to be highlighted here that only approx. 10-15% of required quantity was available at construction sites to continue with the planned construction activities.

In addition to the above, the Opposite Parties were later completely banned to use underground water for construction purposes and were vehemently directed to use recycled water only.

iv. Notification dated 14.9.1999 published by Ministry of Environment and Forest -The Notification dated 14.09.1999 barred the excavation of top soil for the manufacture of bricks and further directed that no manufacturing of clay bricks or tiles or blocks be done within a radius of 50 (fifty) kilometres from coal and lignite based thermal power plants without mixing atleast 25% of ash with soil. As a consequence of this Notification dated 14.09.1999 various brick kiln were shut creating shortage of essential commodity bricks for construction purposes.

Further, another raw material i.e. the sand which is used as mixture along with cement was also not available in the vicinity of the Complex due to restrictions from Mining Department imposed in the entire Aravali region and the same had to be procured from neighbouring State of Rajasthan.

Later in a completely unforeseeable ruling by the Hon''ble Supreme Court of India dated 08.05.2009 the Hon''ble Court suspended all the mining operations in the Aravalli Hill range falling in State of Haryana within the area of approx.. 448 sq. kms. In the district of Faridabad and Gurgaon including Mewat which directly affected the construction schedules and activities of the Respondents herein.

Notification dated 14.09.2006 published by the office of Director, Town and Country Planning, Haryana - This Notification dated 14.09.2006 imposed certain restrictions and prohibitions on new projects or activities, or on the expansion or modernization of existing projects or activities based on their potential environmental impact being undertaken in any part of India unless prior environmental clearances are obtained. Therefore, due to the said Notification dated 14.09.2006, the procedure of obtaining approvals and sanctions by the opposite parties led to the delay in the present construction schedule.

Recession in the economy - That since the real estate industry is a cyclical industry that is affected by both local and national economic conditions. While macroeconomic conditions affect the overall state of the real estate industry, local supply and demand conditions are by far more important factors affecting the real estate markets as a result of which the availability of essential resources namely the labour and various raw materials became scarce."

Rejecting all these aforesaid plea taken by the OPs, this Commission, directed possession of the flat to the complainants alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 12% per annum.

The learned counsel for the OPs states on instructions that they have already applied for grant of Occupancy Certificate in respect of the flat allotted to the complainant and would have no difficulty in offering its possession to him as soon as the Occupancy Certificate is received. The father of the complainant who is also his Authorized Representative states on instructions from the complainant that in order to avoid any further litigation in the matter on the part of the OPs, the complainant while seeking possession of the flat allotted to him, is restricting his claim to compensation in the form of simple interest @ 8% per annum from the committed date of possession till the date on which the possession is actually delivered to him after obtaining the Occupancy Certificate. The complaint is therefore, disposed of with the following directions: (1) The OPs shall obtain the occupancy certificate at its own cost and responsibility and then deliver possession of the flat booked by the complainant, complete in all respects, within six months from today.

(2) The OPs shall pay to the complainant compensation in the form of simple interest @ 8% per annum on the amount of Rs.1,58,77,069/- w.e.f. 01.04.2011 till the date on which the possession of the flat alongwith compensation in terms of this order is actually delivered.

(3) The compensation shall be paid while offering possession in terms of this order to the complainant.

(4) The OPs shall also pay a sum of Rs.10,000/- as the cost litigation to the complainant.