Haryana

Ambala

CC/217/2016

Simranjit Singh - Complainant(s)

Versus

M/s Unitech Ltd. - Opp.Party(s)

G.S. Bawa

25 Oct 2017

ORDER

BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMBALA.

            Complaint Case No.: 217 of 2016

Date of Institution   : 19.05.2016

Date of Decision     :  25.10.2017

 

Simranjit Singh son of Sh.Vikramjit Singh son of Sh.Pritam Singh r/o House No.240, B-1 Gobind Vihar, Charkhi Mohalla, Ambala City through G.P.A. Vikramjit Singh son of Pritam Singh r/o H.No.240, B-1 Gobind Vihar, Charkhi Mohalla, Ambala City.

                                                                                                            ……Complainant

Versus

 

1. M/s Unitech Limited through its Managing Director, Signature Tower, Ground Floor, N.H.No.8 South City, Gurgaon (Haryana).
2. M/s Unitech Limited through its Managing Director, Regd.Office 6, Community Centre, Saket, New Delhi-110017.
3. Incharge office of Unitech Ltd. Unihomes Sector-16, Ambala City, (Haryana).

                                                                                                         ……Opposite Parties

 

Complaint Under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act.

 

CORAM:        SH. D.N.ARORA, PRESIDENT.

                        SH. PUSHPENDER KUMAR, MEMBER.

                        MS.ANAMIKA GUPTA, MEMBER

                       

Present:          Sh. Rajesh Gupta, Adv. counsel for complainant.

                        Sh. Abhishek Kathuria, Adv. counsel for Ops.  

 

ORDER.

 

                        Complainant has filed the present complaint averring therein that one Charanjit Kumar had booked a flat No.0166, Floor 01, Tower 8 in Unihomes after executing an agreement with the OPs and thereafter said Charanjit Kumar transferred the said flat in favour of the complainant vide agreement dated 11.12.2012 and the amount to the tune of Rs.5,96,988/- paid by Charanjit Kumar with the Ops was transferred in favour of complainant duly admitted by OPs vide Ref. UL : RD : NRUA/00002 dated 11.12.2012. The Ops had further sent a demand letter on 10.05.2014 and further demanded a sum of Rs.2,20,684/- vide customer code No.UHA0118A amounting to Rs.2,26,679/- vide customer code No.UHA0118A super area 953. Sq. ft. from the complainant. The complainant has duly replied the said demand letter dated 26.06.2014 and he is ready to deposit the demanded amount subject to condition to disclose the time of giving the possession of the built up flat by the OPs. The OPs have not started the construction even after lapsing of long time despite receiving of huge amount of Rs.5,96,988/-. The complainant requested the Ops to handover the possession of the flat on 13.05.2016 but to no avail and by way of this complaint he also prayed for compensation of Rs.4,00,000/-  for deficiency in service and Rs.4,00,000/- for unfair trade practice, harassment, mental torture and tension alongwith interest @ 18 % per annum.   In evidence, the complainant has tendered affidavit Annexure CX and documents Annexure C1 to Annexure C10.

 2.                    Upon notice, Ops appeared through counsel and tendered reply to the complaint raising preliminary objection such as pecuniary jurisdiction of this Forum as the cost of the flat is Rs.20,46,736/- and even the complainant has also sought compensation to the tune of Rs.4,00,000/- for deficiency in service and Rs.4,00,000/- for unfair trade practice. Besides this, some other objections viz. territorial jurisdiction & complainant is not covered in the definition of consumer and the complainant has invested in the said flat for the purpose of resale and the relief sought by the complainant is not a consumer dispute rather a dispute of contractual nature which can only be adjudicated in civil proceedings etc. have also been raised.  The payment of Rs.5,96,988/- including the service tax of Rs.14,988/- was made directly to Gurgaon office of the OPs. The possession of the flat was to be handedover tentatively within 24 months from the date of signing of the agreement but the delay in handingover the possession of the flat is beyond the control of the developer. At last, a prayer for dismissal of complaint with heavy cost has been made.

3.                     We have heard learned counsel for complainant as well as Ops and gone through the record very minutely. As per Annexure C2 the value of the plot is Rs.20,46,736/-, therefore, before going further it is desirable to re-produce Section -11 of the Consumer Protection Act, which is as under:-

“11 Jurisdiction of the District Forum (1) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the District Forum  shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services and the compensation, if any, claimed does not exceed rupees twenty lakhs”.

Section-11 is worded in clear terms and leaves no one in doubt that the District Forum shall not entertain any complaint which exceeds its pecuniary limits beyond Rs.20.00 lacs. The counsel for the OPs further strengthened his version by placing reliance on case law 2016(3) CLT Pg. 20 (NC)  titled as Ravi Marwah Vs. Unitech Reliable Projects Pvt. Ltd. wherein it has been held that “Housing construction-Refund claimed with interest-The amount of interest claimed by the flat buyers needs to be added to the principal amount paid by them for the purpose of deciding whether a particular complaint falls within the pecuniary jurisdiction of  Consumer Forum”. Counsel for OP has also placed reliance on case law rendered by Hon’ble National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in case titled as M/s Omaxe Ltd Vs. Iqbal Begum & Anr. etc. decided on 16.05.2014 in First Appeal No.887 of 2013 wherein it is held that “pecuniary jurisdiction  is to be decided in accordance with the prayer made in the  complaint”.  Hon’ble State Commission, Chandigarh while deciding the complaint titled as Manmohan Singh Vs. Unitech etc. on 07.03.2017 has held that if the sale consideration agreed to be paid by the consumer is taken as the value of the goods or services in that case, the amount of compensation as claimed in the complaint needs to be added to the agreed consideration and the aggregate of the consideration and the compensation claimed in the complaint would determine the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Consumer Forum.

4.                     In view of the legal proposition enunciated above, we refrain ourselves from giving any opinion whether complainant falls within the purview of consumer or whether any deficiency on the part of Ops but we decide the point of pecuniary jurisdiction first in light of the case laws referred above. Accordingly, we are of the confirmed opinion that this Forum lacks pecuniary jurisdiction to try the present complaint. As such, we have no option except to dismiss the present complaint for lack of pecuniary jurisdiction and thus the same is hereby dismissed with no order as to costs with a liberty to the complainant to approach appropriate authority on the same cause of action.  Exemption of time spent before this Forum is granted  in terms of the  judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case titled “ Laxmi Engineering Works versus PSG Industrial Institute  (1995) 3 SCC page 583. The complainant can take all the original documents, if any, relied upon in this case and the office is also directed to hand-over the same, if any, attached with the complaint against proper receipt & identification and after placing photocopy of the same on the case file. Copies of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of costs, as per rules. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance. 

 

ANNOUNCED: 25.10.2017                                            (D.N.ARORA)

                                                                                              PRESIDENT               

 

 

        (PUSHPENDER KUMAR)  

                                                                                               MEMBER                                          

 

                                                             

                                                                        (ANAMIKA GUPTA) 

                                                                                 MEMBER