JAGRUT NAGRIK Vs. PARAKRAMSINH A. JADEJA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. P.V. Moorjani, Authorised Representative, for the complainants, Ms. Nimisha Menon, Advocate, for opposite parties-1 and 2 and Mr. D.N. Ray, Advocate, for opposite parties-3 and 4.

(2.) 'Jagrut Nagrik', a voluntary consumer association and 8 home buyers of the group housing project 'Earth Somnath' have filed above complaint for directing the opposite parties to (i) pay compensation of Rs.240000000.00 with interest @18% per annum, from the date of possession till the date of payment, for constructing 24 houses on gas pipeline; (ii) pay compensation of Rs.20000000.00 with interest @18% per annum, from the date of possession till the date of payment, for construction of club house and swimming pool on the pond of the village; (iii) refund Rs.10000000.00 with interest @18% per annum, from the date of payments till the date of refund, realized toward lifetime maintenance; (iv) refund Rs.12040000.00 with interest @18% per annum, from the date of possession till the date of payment, for deficient construction; (v) pay Rs.200000.00 with interest @18% per annum, from the date of possession till the date of payment, for professional fee paid by the complainants to Mr. Atri Vyas and Associates; (vi) pay Rs.100000000.00 with interest @18% per annum, from the date of possession till the date of payment, for less area and other deficiencies of the flat allotted to the complainants; (vii) pay Rs.16500000.00 with interest @18% per annum, from the date of possession till the date of payment, which may be recovered by the government for deficient stamp duty and penalty; (viii) pay Rs.5000000.00 to as compensation for mental agony and harassment; (ix) Pay Rs.1000000.00 as litigation costs; and (x) any other relief which is deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstance of the case.

(3.) The complainants stated that Parakramsinh A. Jadeja and Ashok H. Tanna (OP-1 and 2) were the owners of 11938 sq.mtrs. land of Block No.89, (old Revenue Survey No.104), situated at village Sewasi, taluka and district Vadodara. Earth Landmark LLP (OP-3) was a limited liability partnership firm, registered under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 and Viral Manojbhai Seth (OP-4) was its Managing Partner. On the basis of development agreement dtd. 15/2/2014, between OP-1 and 2 on the one side and OP-3 and 4 on the other side, OP-3 and 4 developed a group housing the project of villas in the name of 'Earth Somnath', on above land, for which, they obtained necessary permission from the Collector, vide letter dtd. 2/8/2013 and Vadodara Shaheri Vikas Satta Mandal, vide letter dtd. 20/1/2014. On 19/10/2013, OP-3 and 4 advertised that 'Earth Somnath' would have a club consisting multipurpose hall with modern facilities, game room, gymnasium, swimming pool with deck area and changing rooms, raised gardens with seating, Outdoor Leisure amenities would be lush green landscape garden with water cascade, multipurpose court with seating area, children play area, gazebo seating surrounding lili-pond, jogging track, Value Additions would be an inviting entrance gate with water body, 24x7 security with security cabin and intercom, paved internal road with street light, underground cabling for fire free look, 24 hour water supply through corporation and bore-well rain water harvesting, termite resistance treatment etc. Believing upon the representation of OP-3 and 4, complainants-2 to 9 and other home buyers booked a villa and deposited booking amount in the year 2014-2015. OP-3 and 4 allotted villa and executed an agreement for sale and development agreement in favour of the buyer, shortly after booking. At the time of agreement with the buyers, OP-3 and 4 made part payment of Rs.10.00 lacs out of Rs.15.00 crores to OP-1 and 2 towards price of the land. OP-3 and 4 revised layout plan on 24/7/2015, increasing number of the villas from 78 to 85 without any information or consent of the home buyers. OP-3 and 4 constructed 83 villas and obtained 'occupation certificate' on 6/9/2016. Without developing all the promised amenities and facilities, OP-3 and 4 handed over possession of the villa to the buyers in the year 2017-2018. At the time of offer of possession, OP-3 and 4 realized Rs.100000.00 from each buyer as lifetime maintenance charges but this amount was not deposited in the bank. After taking possession, the home buyers found that actual size of the plot was less than as mentioned in the agreement, actual size of the villa was less than as mentioned in the agreement, common area and road size mentioned in all indexes are different. OP-3 and 4 constructed some villa on the land of the corporation through which gas pipeline had been laid by GAIL and sold it to the buyers. Club house and swimming were constructed over the land of pond of the village and it was included in boundary of the project as well as there were various deficiencies as detailed in paragraphs-11 and 18 of the complaint, which are based upon the report dtd. 12/12/2018 of Atri Vyas and Associates, a consultant engineers. Complainant-1 gave a notice to the OPs dtd. 15/9/2018, for removing above deficiencies. In spite of service of the notice, the OPs did not respond. After receipt of the report dtd. 12/12/2018, complainant-1 gave another notice to the OPs dtd. 17/1/2019, for removing deficiencies but again the OPs did not respond. Then the complainants made complaint to District Collector Vadodara and Vadodara Urban Development Authority on 8/2/2019 and Police Commissioner, Vadodara on 16/3/2019 but no action was taken by these authorities. Complainant-1 filed Writ Petition No.139 of 2019, before Gujarat High Court, in respect of limited issue of illegal construction raised over the land of the corporation through which gas pipeline was laid by GAIL as it is a life threatening of the residents and construction of the club building and swimming pool on the land of village pond. OP-3 and 4 raised an objection in the writ petition that the disputes raised in the writ petition were of the nature of consumer dispute. Then this complaint was filed on 31/7/2020, alleging deficiency in service. The complainants filed IA/5134/2020, under Sec. 35(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, for grant of leave to institute the complaint as a representative complaint on behalf of all the home buyers of the project.