Mere pendency of civil suits cannot act as a legal bar on registration of real estate projects: Assam Real Estate Appellate Tribunal

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Assam Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (REAT) observed that mere pendency of civil suits cannot act as a legal bar on registration of real estate projects. REAT observed this on Monday while dismissing an appeal filed by a builder against a judgement, delivered by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Assam. In this case, the RERA had imposed a penalty of twenty lakh rupees on the builder for not registering his project consisting of 252 flats.

As per Sub-Section (1) of Section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, a builder cannot advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale any plot, apartment or building in any real estate project without first registering the project with the RERA. In the instant case, as per the builder's own admission, the construction commenced on 03.04.2018 and out of. the proposed 252 flats, as many as 106 persons had already made advance, amounting to Rs.

14 crores. The builder did this without first registering the project which was mandatory and thus, violated Subsection (1) of Section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. The builder argued before the Tribunal that the project itself had been entangled in various civil suits with landowners since 2018 and its fate was uncertain.

Rejecting the argument as utterly irrelevant and misconceived, the Tribunal observed that mere pendency of civil suits cannot act as a legal bar on complying with the statutory provisions of Section 3 of the Act. Dismissing the appeal, the Assam REAT asked the builder to deposit the entire amount with the Assam RERA within three weeks. The order was passed by Justice (Retd.) Manojit Bhuyan, Chairperson and Onkar Kedia, Member, Assam REAT.