DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM 

WEST TRIPURA : AGARTALA 

 

CASE NO: CC- 42 of 2019 

 

Sri Sushen Das, 

S/O- Late Jogendra Chandra Das, 

Ward No.27, Badharghat,

P.O. & P.S. A.D. Nagar, Dukli,

District- West Tripura,

Pin- 799003. ...….............Complainant. 

 

 

-VERSUS-

 

1. Smt. Nibedita Baidya,

W/O- Sri Samaresh Baidya,

Resident of Dhaleswar Road No.6, 

Agartala, P.S. East Agartala,

District-West Tripura, 

Pin- 799007. 

 

2. Sri Kamal Rudra Paul,

S/O- Jatindra Rudra Paul,

 

3. Sri Satyendra Chandra Sharma,

S/O- Nagendra Chandra Sharma,

 

Both are residents of Reshambagan,

Chandrapur, Agartala, P.S. East Agartala,

District-  West Tripura, 

Pin- 799008.

 

4. Sri Ranabir Bhattacharjee,

S/O- Late Kamala Ranjan Bhattacharjee,

Residents of Sardar Pukur Par,

Near Modern Club, P.O. & P.S. A.D. Nagar,

District- West Tripura,

Pin- 799003. …..............Opposite parties.

 

 

-PRESENT-

 

 SRI BAMDEB MAJUMDER

PRESIDENT,

  DISTRICT CONSUMER  

DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,

      WEST TRIPURA, AGARTALA. 

 

SRI UMESH DAS

MEMBER,

  DISTRICT CONSUMER 

DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, 

  WEST TRIPURA,  AGARTALA.

 

SMT. Dr BINDU PAL

MEMBER,

  DISTRICT CONSUMER 

DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, 

  WEST TRIPURA,  AGARTALA.

 

 

 

C O U N S E L

 

For the Complainant : Sri P.K. Dhar,

  Sri Sanjay Pal, 

    Advocates.   

 

For the O.P. No.1  & 2 : Sri Subhashis De

    Advocate.  

 

For the O.P. No.3 & 4  : None Appeared.

 

 

JUDGMENT  DELIVERED  ON : 23.12.2019

 

J U D G M E N T

The complainant Smt. Sushen Das set the law in motion by presenting the petition U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 complaining deficiency of service committed by the O.P. No.1 who is the Builder-cum-Promoter and other 3 O.Ps. The O.P. No.2 and 3 are the Land Owners.

The complainant's case in brief is that the O.P. No.1 being the Builder-cum-Promoter had offered to the Complainant for sale of one flat having area of 1250 sq. ft. on the 2nd Floor  of G+5  Building with car space measuring 120 sq. ft. at Indranagar, on consideration amount of Rs.27 Lac. Having allured by the offer the Complainant entered into a Notarial Agreement for sale vide No.155/JAN/17 dated 13.01.2017 with the O.P. No.1 Builder-cum-Promoter with terms and conditions stipulated in the said Agreement. As per the agreement the proposed building was to be completed and thereafter to be handed over to the Complainant within 22 months from the date of execution of the Agreement. The Complainant on the day of agreement i.e. on 13.01.2017 paid Rs.5 Lac as booking amount by cheque bearing No.130419 dated 13/01/2017 drawn on SBI, Agartala, Bazar Branch. The O.P. Builder issued money receipt against the said payment. The Complainant has stated in his complaint that as per the terms and conditions of the agreement the balance amount of Rs.22 Lac is to be paid in 7 installments by him. The Complainant in due course of time also paid Rs.2 Lac in cash on 12.04.2017 to the O.P. No.1 and the O.P. No.1 issued receipt against the said payment. In the agreement it has been stipulated that in the event of failure on the part of the O.P. No.1 to complete the construction work, the complainant is at liberty to cancel the agreement for sale and demand the return of the advance amount paid with 9% interest from the date of payment from the O.P. No.1. The complainant also stated in his complaint that after elapsed of 24 months from the date of agreement the O.P. No.1 did not start the construction wrok. Though the complainant contacted with the said O.P. but he could not get any satisfactory reply from him. In the last week of February, 2019 the complainant again contacted with the O.P. No.1 then also she remained silent. Thereafter on several occasions the complainant visited the house of the O.P. No.1 but he did not find her. Ultimately the complainant on 28.03.19 through his advocate served Legal Notices upon the O.P. No.1 and 4. The Legal Notices sent by post to the O.P. Nos.2 and 3 however, returned without service. The O.P. Nos. 1 and 4 inspite of receiving Legal Notices did not make any response to it. 

Being dissatisfied and aggrieved by the conduct of the O.Ps the Complainant has filed the present complaint claiming compensation including the amount paid in advance to the O.P. and cost of litigation, in total Rs.10 Lac with 9% interest against the O.Ps. Hence this case. 

 

2. Based on the complaint notices were duly sent to the O.Ps. from the Forum. The notice was duly served upon the O.P. No.4. Rest of the notices have been returned without service. As per prayer of the complainant substitute service of notices in respect of the O.P. Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were done through newspaper publication with the cost having been borne by the complainant. 

The O.P. No.4 after receiving notice has appeared before the Forum in person and by filing a petition prayed for deleting his name from the complaint stating that he was not in any way associated with the O.P. No.1. His prayer was however rejected as per objection raised by the complainant. 

The O.P. No.3 however, did not turn up before the Forum. So the case proceeded exparte against him. 

The O.P. Nos. 1 and 2 have appeared in response to the notice having been published in the news paper. They have filed written objection through their engaged counsel admitting the claim of the complainant. Both of them in their written objection have admitted about payment of Rs.7 Lac by the complainant. 

In Para- 7 of the written objection the O.Ps have however, stated that they had to abandon the project as the site of the project remains flooded with water during rainy season. 

 

3. EVIDENCE ADDUCED BY THE COMPLAINANT:

In due course of time the complainant has been examined  with reference to his examination-in-chief by way of Affidavit furnished before the Forum. The Complainant has produced 06 documents. The documents are: (1)Original Sale Agreement dated 13.01.2017, (2)Original money receipt dated 12.04.17 for Rs.2 Lac  issued by the O.P. No.1 to the Complainant, (3)Copy of Advocate's Notice dated 28.03.19 issued to the O.P. No.1 on behalf of the Complainant, (4)Copy of Envelope containing Advocate's Notice returned unserved upon the O.P. Nos. 2 and 3, (5)Copy of reply dated 05.04.19 given by O.P. No.4 and (6)Copy of Khatian No. 6788 of Mouja Indranagar in the name of the land owner, Kamal Rudra Pal, The documents are marked as Exhibit-I series. 

 

4. We have heard arguments advanced by Learned Advocate for the complainant. We have also gone through the complaint, the evidence adduced by way of Affidavit of the Complainant and the documentary evidence produced by the Complainant. We are satisfied that the Complainant had entered into an agreement with the O.P. No.1 on 13.01.2017 for purchasing of one Flat on consideration for an amount Rs.27 Lac. The Complainant on the same day paid Rs.5 Lac to the O.P. No.1 as booking money by a cheque bearing No.130419 dated 13/01/2017 drawn on SBI, Agartala, Bazar Branch. The O.P. No.1 issued money receipt against the said payment. The O.P. No.1 has also acknowledged the receipt of the cheque. Thereafter the complainant also paid Rs.2 lac in cash to the O.P. No.1 and the O.P. No.1 has acknowledged receipt of the said amount by issuing money receipt in favour of the complainant.  As per the terms and conditions of the agreement the Complainant is to get possession of the flat within 22 months from the date of execution of the agreement but the O.P. No.1 did not start construction work even after elapsed of 24 months from the date of agreement. 

The Complainant on several times thereafter visited the house of the O.P. No.1 but has failed to get him. The Complainant thereafter issued Legal Notices to the O.P. Nos. 1 and 4 for return of the amount paid to the O.P. No.1 with 9 % interest. Though the O.P. Nos. 1 received the notice but she did not make any response to the notice. The complainant thereafter filed the instant complaint against the O.Ps. It is evident that the documents furnished by the Complainant under Exhibit-I Series support the case of the complainant. We find that the O.P. Nos. 1 and 2 have filed the written statement admitting the claim of the complainant. We find that there is sufficient material on record to prove that the O.P. No.1 has breached the agreement. The O.P. No.1 according to us has thus indulged in unfair trade practice. The Complainant has suffered mental agony and harassment on account of the unfair trade practices adopted by the O.P. No.1. He is entitled to get compensation etc. 

 

5. In view of the discussion made above, we find and hold that the complainant has succeeded in establishing his case U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the O.P. No.1. We accordingly find the O.P. No.1 guilty of committing unfair trade practice against the complainant. It is hereby directed that the O.P. Nos.1 shall return Rs.7 Lac being the advance amount that had been paid by the Complainant by way of cheque and cash for purchasing the Flat. The amount of Rs.7 Lac shall carry interest @ 9% P.A. from the date of payment of the cheque and the cash amount made by the Complainant, till the payment is made in full. The O.P. No.1 shall also pay Rs.30,000/- to the Complainant for causing mental agony and harassment together with Rs.5,000/- being the cost of litigation. Thus, the O.P. No.1 shall have to pay in total Rs.7,35,000/- (Rs.7 Lac + Rs.30,000/- + Rs.5,000/-) to the Complainant within a period of 2(two) months from the date of judgment failing which the amount of compensation and litigation cost shall carry interest @ 9% P.A. till the payment is made in full. It is made clear that apart from the above amount of compensation, the O.P. No.1 shall have to pay additional 9% interest on Rs.7 Lac to be accrued from the date of deposit of the cheque  and cash amount till the payment is made in full. 

 

 

 

 

  Announced.

 

 

 

 

SRI B. MAJUMDER

PRESIDENT,

DISTRICT CONSUMER  DISPUTES 

REDRESSAL FORUM,

WEST TRIPURA,  AGARTALA.

 

 

 

SMT. Dr B. PAUL

MEMBER,

 DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES 

REDRESSAL FORUM, 

WEST TRIPURA, AGARTALA

 

 

SRI  U. DAS

MEMBER,

 DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES 

REDRESSAL FORUM, 

WEST TRIPURA, AGARTALA