GHAZIABAD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Vs. RAMESH CHANDRA PANDIYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant allotted plot No. E-170 at Nehru Nagar measuring 167.44 sq. mt. vide allotment letter dated 5.6.1985, the price being Rs. 37,842/-. The appellant send letters demanding payment of instalments which had become due and called upon the respondent to enter into a lease deed and take possession of the allotted site. The said allotment was cancelled on 16.3.1990 on the ground that the respondent had failed to take possession.

(2.) The respondent requested withdrawal of the cancellation and restoration of the allotment, vide letter dated 17.3.1990. By letter dated 19.4.1990, the appellant restored the allotment subject to payment of restoration fee and subject to the condition that it would be the responsibility of the respondent to take possession and he will not seek change of plot. The respondent, however, applied for allotment of alternative plot on 15.9.1994, alleging that the municipal authorities had laid a sewer line on the plot and that some part of the plot was also encroached. The appellant thereafter allotted an alternative plot (Plot No. 6/167, Vaishali) measuring 250.77 sq. mt. on 31.1.1996 and demanded payment of Rs. 3,39,179/- after adjusting Rs. 56,820/- which had been paid by the respondent towards the earlier allotment. The price charged for the Vaishali site is stated to be about Rs. 1400/- per sq. mt.

(3.) Feeling aggrieved by the said demand, the respondent approached the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, U.P. seeking a direction to the appellant to deliver the Vaishali plot at the original price of allotment which was about Rs. 226/- per sq.mt. He also prayed for damages as also interest on the amount that was deposited by him for the Nehru Nagar plot. The State Commission by its order dated 29.3.2001 allowed the complaint. It directed the appellant to deliver the Vaishali plot measuring 250.77 sq.mt. at the original allotment price of Rs. 226/- per sq.mt. It further directed the appellant to pay interest at 18% per annum on the amount deposited by the respondent towards the cost of Nehru Nagar plot. It also awarded Rs. 38,000/- as compensation to respondent and also directed the appellant to pay the escalation towards the cost of construction of the house, worked out on the basis of cost of construction index in U.P. in the year 1985 and the year of delivery of possession.