AVAS VIKAS LIMITED Vs. NEELAM CHAUDHARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A housing scheme, namely, Sahabhagita Awas Yojna (PPP) under its affordable housing policy 2009 was published by the Govt. of Rajasthan in the newspapers, inviting applications for allotment of residential flats, from the persons belonging to Middle Income Group, Lower Income Group and from Economical Weaker Sections of the society. The application forms were sold and the filled application forms were collected by six agencies including the petitioner Avas Vikas Ltd., Jaipur. The complainant/respondent also applied for allotment of a residential flat under the said scheme and deposited a sum of Rs.18,500/- including the administrative charges amounting to Rs.3500/-. The scheme was later cancelled by the Govt. of Rajasthan. The principal amount paid by the complainant was returned to him along with administrative charges but no interest on the said amounts was paid to him. Being aggrieved, the complainant approached the concerned District Forum by way of a complaint. The Government of Rajasthan, however, was not impleaded as an opposite party in the said complaint.

(2.) The petitioner Corporation filed its reply/written version contesting the complaint and referring to clause 10 of the terms and conditions applicable to the said scheme, pleaded that no interest in the event of cancellation of the scheme was payable to the registrants. It was further stated in the said reply that the petitioner had only collected the application money from the applicants but it was neither the developer of the scheme nor the owner of the land on which these flats were proposed to be constructed. Since the land on which the scheme was to come up fell in ecological zone under the master plan, it could not be transferred for the purpose carrying out development and construction and the Government decided, on 28.7.2014, to cancel the said scheme. The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that in fact the land on which the flats were to be constructed was to be transferred by the Govt. of Rajasthan to Jaipur Development Authority which was to develop the same and construct the residential flats.

(3.) The District Forum vide its order 28.9.2015 directed the petitioner to pay 12% interest to the complainant on the amount of Rs.18,500/- which the complainant had deposited and also pay a sum of Rs.5,000/- as the cost of litigation.