The Supreme Court asked real estate developer — M/S Business Park Town Planners Ltd — to repay the amount invested by plot buyer Rajnesh Sharma (Rs 43.13 lakh) with 18% interest, 9% more than what was allowed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).
The apex court’s move was an outcome of a question raised by Sharma to a bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and AG Masih. He asked: If a real estate company can charge 18% interest from plot buyers for defaulting payments, why should the former not be asked to pay similar interest to the latter for delaying plot handover?
Partly allowing Sharma’s appeal against the NCDRC order, the bench said, “We find that in all such cases this court did not give elaborate reasons for rejecting the claim for parity but reduced/increased the rate of interest based on factors peculiar to the facts and circumstances of each case, such as the market conditions, lockdown due to Covid, etc.”
Sharma was to get the possession of the plot within 24 months of sanction of service plans. But no offer for possession was made until 2018. The order pointed out that in April 2011, the firm allotted an alternative plot to Sharma, citing “changes in the layout plan”.
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