PER:

Charanjit Singh, President

1        The present complaint has been received from the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Amritsar by the order of the Hon’ble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Punjab, Chandigarh for its disposal.

2        The complainant has filed the present complaint by invoking the provisions of Consumer Protection Act under Section 12 and 13 against the opposite party on the allegations that the complainant for the construction to complete the semi furnished second floor on her house at 29/4, Rani Ka Bagh, Amritsar hired the service of the opposite party. The opposite party boast itself being the qualified architect and contractor and the said opposite party is deficient in rendering the services for  which he is hired for, the complainant is a consumer as provided under the act. The opposite party boasting itself to be qualified architect and contractor approached the complainant for construction of the second floor in the above said house of the complainant and agreed to construct the said second floor of the house at the prevailing construction rates in the market as agreed between the parties and the work is to be done as per the said schedule/ material/ workmanship.  The said house second floor to be constructed has existing erected walls and pillars on the site in June 2014 by owner and needs not to be erected/ constructed. The said opposite party hired and started the construction work on February, 1^st 2016 @ 9:00 AM and it was settled between the parties that the opposite party as per the work/ branded material to be used as stated by the opposite party on its letterhead with complete material brand declaration and the whole project will cost of Rs.12.75 lac to the complainant and the project will be completed and handed over in satisfactory condition in April, 30^th 2016. The opposite party delayed the work and the complainant coming into the sweet words of the opposite party paid of Rs.12.5+ 2 lakhs in all the opposite party till July 2016 in different installments but the opposite party did not carry out the work and left the project in between and incomplete and the work conducted only of Rs.6.32 lac approximate, that too of the inferior quality and workmanship and using the lowest grade material and against the agreed workmanship and material.  The opposite party used low quality non branded and nonstandard material in partly finished constructions. Here is the detail or unfinished and low quality material being used.        Pakistani substandard cement instead of Branded Indian cement Ultratech as agreed. Iron used is of no ISI brand and prone to rusting and loss of construction.

(i)      Bathroom has no sanitary work, no taps, no shower panel, no toilet seat, no urinal pot, incomplete bath room floor, no electric work, no granite countertop for sink and no sink, no wood work, no window, no door.

(ii)     All floor incomplete, more over flooring designs are shabby and against the drawings submitted and designed pattern approved by complainant, the tiles used of interior quality instead of agreed Kajaria Make tiles,

(iii)    Nor electric work done, only speared electric cables which were too of inferior quality instead of Anchor make as agreed, no switch, no recess lights, no four air conditions electric fittings, no point left for fan, no led lights.

(iv)    Ceiling designs are shabby and against the drawings submitted and mismatched with the approved design.

(v)     Wood work has not been done, no windows, no door, no ventilation, nothing.

(vi)    Constructed water tank burst badly on Jan 22, 2017, water flooded every which badly affected existing ground floor construction. Client had hired some other contractor, breakdown and removed said water tank major part, reconstructed and get the repair on the ground floor drawing room, bathroom and lobby damaged with flood. We have video evidence with can be provided when client remove the existing and rte-construct it.

(vii)   No paint work was done.

(viii)  From elevation work has been left unattended and in between which was great safety hazard and neighbor placed multiple serious complaint to remove it.

(ix)    No chemical layer was got done on rooftop. That water and sewerage pipes were used of inferior and substandard quality instead of finolex as agreed.

(x)     Porch floor left without tiles in the heavy rain season and it impact badly on the existing building, there was not drainage management, it was intentionally done to give us hard time and mental harassment. This lead to leakage in already constructed ground level.

(xi)    Door entry not made in porch to go into the small room as agreed.

(xii)   Porch wide area lintel should be extended up to and abreast to outer boundary wall in the street. Wide area angle supposed to construct up to give feet as agreed but it shorter and just around two and half feet. It has mess the whole from elevation design.

(xiii)  No iron grill installed in either of the window or ventilation.

(xiv)  In complete plaster work from the internal as well as from elevation.

(xv)   No from elevation decorative stones installed as agreed.

(xvi)  Left unlimited wastage and garbage in the street which was great safety hazards for the community.

          In all the very limited work done and is of substandard quality and material used is of interior quality and needs total replacement. The opposite party after receiving the said amount stopped the further construction of the house without any prior notice and started demanding the amount at the exorbitant rates which were prevalent nowhere under the covert threat that they won't allow any other person and architect to proceed with the construction work and used the restrictive trade practices as the said house is under construction and is in midway. The said construction made by the opposite party speaks in volumes about the sad story of the negligent construction work which is left midway and the material and workmanship used in the said construction work and how the opposite party victimized the innocent complainant.  It was not more than a nightmare and its looks very determined malpractice and barer murder of the trust and opposite party put complainant in the big trouble at this point as they mess so much in the street, damaged our neighborhood wall. Opposite party is bluff master and played so many tricks to make complainant fool and forfeit complainant huge money by his mischievous  designs. The complainant made several requests to the opposite party to complete the construction work and charge the amount prevailing as per the standard agreed rates and the work done is also of substandard quality and was requested to rectify the same and incomplete flooring work besides outside plaster work,  roof tiles work, stair plaster work, septic tank work, water tank work, boundary wall work, parapet second floor work, kitchen plaster work has still to be done i.e. around 1/2 construction work is left inspite of charging the same and  excess amount already taken by the opposite party. The aforesaid act of the opposite party giving the gross negligent treatment to the complainant in the construction activity for the newly under constructed house of the complainant and leaving the construction work midway and without completing the same and giving poor workmanship besides substandard quality work done by the opposite party and charging excessively and even for the work not complete and is an act of deficiency in service, malpractice, unfair trade practice and has caused lot of mental agony, harassment, inconvenience besides financial loss to the complainant and for which opposite party is liable to pay the compensation of Rs.13 lacs to the complainant. The complainant has prayed the following reliefs:-

A)      The opposite party be directed to refund the amount of Rs.6.18 being charged excessively from the complainant alongwith interest @ 12% from date of payments till realization.

B)      The opposite party be directed to pay the compensation of Rs.13 lacs to the complainant.

C)      The opposite party be directed to pay the adequate cost of the litigation.

3        After formal admission of the complaint, notice was issued to Opposite Party and opposite party appeared through counsel and filed written version and contested the complaint by interalia pleadings that no lawful cause of action has arisen to the complainant to file the present complaint against the opposite party. Thus the complaint is liable to be dismissed. The complainant has not come to this commission with clean hand and is not entitled to any relief claimed in the complaint. The complainant has suppressed true material facts from this commission and cannot take benefits of his own wrongs. The true facts are that the complainant has agreed for construction of the house from the opposite party at the site 29-4 Rani Ka Bagh, Amritsar at the agreed price of Rs.1000/- per Sq. Ft. inclusive of all material and labour and an agreement in writing was executed between the parties. The opposite party completed the construction as per settlement on the area of 1944.75 Sq. Ft. out of which only Rs.12,50,000/- were paid leaving balance of Rs.7,44,075/0 which amount was not paid by the complainant inspite of  repeated requests and demands. The opposite party even filed a suit against the complainant which is pending in the court of  Ms. Harsimranjit Kaur, Civil Judge, Jr. Division, Amritsar and was fixed for 29.11.2017 . All these true material facts have been concealed by the complainant and as such the complainant is not entitled to any relief claimed in this complaint. The matter being subjudice before the Hon'ble Civil Court at Amritsar, this Commission has no jurisdiction to entertain the present complaint. The complainant has no locus standie to file the present complaint against the opposite party. As such the complaint is liable to be dismissed.  The complainant got construction work from the opposite party vide agreement executed between the parties and the salient terms and conditions are duly incorporated in the agreement in writing and the opposite party craves leave to refer the said agreement annexed with the complainant. The construction was made by the opposite party as per the agreement under the supervision of the representative of the complainant. The complainant has withheld the balance payment of the opposite party and came up with this false complaint. The opposite party has denied the other contents of the complaint and prayed for dismissal of the same.

4        Ld. counsel for the complainant tendered in evidence affidavit of complainant Ex. Attorney holder Ex. C-1, authority letter Ex. C-2, copy of the agreement Ex. C-3, copy of mode of payment Ex. C-4, affidavit of Rahul Sharma Ex. C-5, report Ex. C-6 and closed the evidence.

5        We have heard the Ld. counsel for the complainant and opposite parties and have gone through the record on the file.

6        The combined and harmonious reading of documents and pleadings placed on record is going to prove that the complainant for the completion of construction of semi furnished 2nd Floor of her house at 29/ Rani Ka Bagh, Amritsar hired the service of the opposite party. An agreement was executed between the complainant and opposite party i.e. Sukhpal builder and contractor bye pass Majitha road Amritsar for the construction of second floor. The copy of agreement between the constructor and owner is Ex. C-3 and terms of contract is as follows:-

(i)      Civil work including Civil work including Cement (Ultratech), Bricks (Good quality). Iron bars (ISI). Pillars & lentiles as per design,

(ii)     Wood type (Marindi red)

(iii)    Water pipe (Finow lux)/ Rain water pipe finow luxes

(iv)    Electrical wiring (Anchor),

(v)     Split AC wiring fitting only

(vi)    Switches (Anchor/S.S.K.)

(vii)   Flooring in rooms & porch (Tiles 60Rs.)

(viii)  Bathroom tiles (Kajaria/ Johnson)

(ix)    Toilet fitting (Cera)

(x)     Roof celling (as per design)

(xi)    Grills in windows (as per design)

(xii)   Bricks tiles on roof top

(xiii)  Elevation (as per design)

(xiv)  Elevation Grooves (as per design)

(xv)   Water tank (Triple layer 1000L)

(xvi)  Paints (Asian plastic paint/ISI)

(xvii) POP on roofs (as per design)

(xviii)          Chemical grounding URPC on roof top

The said house second floor having its existing erected walls and pillar on the site in June 2014 by the owner and needs not to be erected/ constructed. The opposite party as per agreement started the construction work on 1.2.2016 and it was settled between the parties that opposite party will use the branded material and the cost of the whole project was Rs. 12.75 Lacs. Further the work was to be completed and handed over in satisfactory condition in the month of April 30^th 2016. The opposite party delayed the work and the complainant paid Rs. 12.5 + 2 lakhs in all to the opposite party till July 2016 in different installments but the opposite party did not carry out the work and left the project in between and incomplete and the work conducted only of Rs.6.32 Lakhs approximately, that too of the inferior quality and workmanship and using the lowest grade material and against the agreed workmanship and material. The opposite party used low quality non branded and substandard material for constructions. Pakistani substandard cement instead of Branded Indian cement Ultratech was used. Iron used is of not of ISI brand which was rusting and loss of construction.

1. Bathroom has no sanitary work, no taps, no shower panel, no toilet seat, no urinal pot, incomplete bath room floor, no electric work, no granite countertop for sink and no sink, no wood work, no window, no door.
2. All floor incomplete, more over flooring designs are shabby and against the drawings submitted and designed pattern approved by complainant, the tiles used of interior quality instead of agreed Kajaria Make tiles,
3. Nor electric work done, only speared electric cables which were too of inferior quality instead of Anchor make as agreed, no switch, no recess lights, no four air conditions electric fittings, no point left for fan, no led lights.
4. Ceiling designs are shabby and against the drawings submitted and mismatched with the approved design.
5. Wood work has not been done, no windows, no door, no ventilation, nothing.
6. Constructed water tank burst badly on Jan 22, 2017, water flooded every which badly affected existing ground floor construction. Client had hired some other contractor, breakdown and removed said water tank major part, reconstructed and get the repair on the ground floor drawing room, bathroom and lobby damaged with flood. We have video evidence with can be provided when client remove the existing and rate-construct it.
7. No paint work was done.
8. From elevation work has been left unattended and in between which was great safety hazard and neighbor placed multiple serious complaint to remove it.
9. No chemical layer was got done on rooftop. That water and sewerage pipes were used of inferior and substandard quality instead of finolex as agreed.
10. Porch floor left without tiles in the heavy rain season and it impact badly on the existing building, there was not drainage management, it was intentionally done to give us hard time and mental harassment. This lead to leakage in already constructed ground level.
11. Door entry not made in porch to go into the small room as agreed.
12. Porch wide area lintel should be extend up to and abreast to outer boundary wall  in the street. Wide area angle suppose to constructed up to give feet as agreed but it shorter and just around two and half feet. It has mess the whole from elevation design.
13. No iron grill installed in either of the window or ventilation.
14. In complete plaster work from the internal as well as from elevation.
15. No from elevation decorative stones installed as agreed.
16. Left unlimited wastage and garbage in the street which was great safety hazards for the community.

7        Further it was stated that very limited work was done by using substandard material which needs total replacement. The opposite party after receiving the said amount stopped the further construction of the house without any prior notice and started demanding the amount at the exorbitant rates which were prevalent nowhere under the covert threat that they won't allow any other person and architect to proceed with the construction work and used the restrictive trade practices as the said house is under construction and the work of construction was left midway.   The complainant made several requests to opposite parties to complete the construction work and charge the amount prevailing as per the standard agreed rates. Besides this flooring work  outside plaster work,  roof tiles work, stair plaster work, septic tank work, water tank work, boundary wall work, parapet second floor work, kitchen plaster work was still to be done i.e. around 1/2 construction work is left inspite of charging the same and  excess amount already taken by the opposite party. By leaving the construction work midway without completing the same and giving poor workmanship besides substandard quality work done by the opposite party and charging excessively and even for the work not completed is an act of deficiency in service, malpractice, unfair trade practice.

8        On the other hand, opposite party stated that the true facts are that the complainant has agreed for construction of the house from the opposite party at the site 29/4 Rani Ka Bagh, Amritsar at the agreed price of Rs.1,000/- per Sq. Ft. inclusive of all material and labour and an agreement in writing was executed between the parties. The opposite party completed the construction as per settlement on the area of 1944.75 Sq. Ft. out of which only Rs.12,50,000/- were paid leaving balance of Rs.7,44,075/- which amount was not paid by the complainant inspite of  repeated requests and demands. The opposite party even has filed a suit against the complainant which is pending in the court of  Ms. Harsimranjit Kaur, Civil Judge, Jr. Division, Amritsar and was fixed for 29.11.2017 . As such, the matter which is being subjudice before the Hon'ble Civil Court at Amritsar, this Commission has no jurisdiction to entertain the present complaint. The construction was made by the opposite party as per agreement under the supervision of representative of the complainant. The complainant has withheld the balance payment of the opposite party.

9        To prove this fact, the complainant has placed on record a report of expert i.e. Rahul Sharma Civil Engineer c/o R.S. Associates (Architect, structure Engineer, Designer and valuer) having office at Rani Ka Bagh Amritsar. This report has prepared by keeping the construction as well as the agreement which was executed between the parties and reached the conclusion  that a work to the tune of Rs. 6,32,487/- was done. There is nothing on the record to doubt the report of the expert as the opposite party has not placed on record any cogent document which proves that the said report is not proper. Only the interrogatories were filed by the opposite party which was duly replied by the expert i.e. Rahul Sharma Civil Engineer in which Rahul Sharma stated that Sukhpal Singh took the whole amount which was decided for the completion of work and left the site with incomplete work. Infact, this matter was reported to the NRI Police Station as the opposite party i.e. Sukhpal Singh entered in to the property of the complainant forcibly with some antisocial elements and threatened the complainant. NRI police officer/ SHO demanded for the evaluation of work done and the complainant hired the services of Rahul Sharma to evaluate and prepare the bill for this incomplete work done so far and as such he provided this report to the NRI Police Station. After that the police authority visited the site and took some photographs. Further in the interrogatories the expert has admitted that he has given full detailed report with each and everything used in the incomplete construction work done by Sukhpal Singh with market rate at that time. He further admitted that the amount which the opposite party had taken from the owner was almost double and beyond the work and even the material mentioned on this letterhead. So it is very much proved from the answers which were given by the expert to the interrogatories filed by the opposite party that the opposite party has left the work in midway and has not constructed the floor as per the agreement. This report of the expert is fully supported by the affidavit of expert and as such, this commission can trust upon the said report. The expert has given the detailed work as well as the material used in the construction and as per the expert the total work which was done by the opposite party is to the tune of Rs. 6,34,487/-. The  opposite party in their reply has admitted that he has received the amount to the tune of Rs. 12,50,000/-.

10      The opposite party has taken the specific objection that the matter is subjudice before the civil courts at Amritsar, therefore, this commission has no jurisdiction to proceed with this matter. However, the opposite party has filed the application before this commission for dismissal of complaint as the matter in controversy is already subjudice before the Civil Court.

11      The opposite party has stated that he has obtained an amount to the tune of Rs. 12,50,000/- and rest of the amount i.e. Rs. 7,44,075/- is pending towards the complainant as such, for recovery of this amount he has filed the civil suit before Civil Judge, Amritsar. But the same civil suit was dismissed in default on 6.3.2018 and there is no information whether this civil suit was restored or not. Moreover, this is the recovery suit and subject matter of this complaint is totally different as such, this point of controversy was decided by this commission on 26.2.2019 that this commission has got the jurisdiction to try and decide the present complaint  with the above mentioned discussion we reach to this conclusion that the opposite party has not completed the work as per terms and conditions of the agreement and this version of complainant is duly supported by technical expert i.e. Rahul Sharma c/o R.S. Associates (Architect, structure Engineer, Designer and valuer) having office at Rani Ka Bagh Amritsar. Moreover, this matter was also reported to the Police authority. It means that the work was really substandard as well as incomplete. 

12      In view of the admission made by the opposite party an amount of Rs. 12,50,000/- has been received by the opposite party from the complainant and technical expert has stated in his report that the opposite party has completed the work to the tune of Rs. 6,32,487/- As such, the complainant is entitled for 6,17,513/- i.e. cost of remaining work which has not been completed by the opposite party as per agreement Ex. C-3. By not completing the work agreed by the opposite party as well as using substandard material, it amounts to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of the opposite party.

13      In view of the above discussion, the present complaint is allowed and the opposite party is directed to make the payment of Rs. 6,17,513/-  to the complainant. The complainant has also been harassed by the opposite party for a long time, as such the complainant is also entitled to Rs. 25,000/- as compensation on account of harassment and mental agony and Rs 11,000/- as litigation expenses. Opposite Party is directed to comply with the order within one month from the date of receipt of copy of the order, failing which the complainant is entitled to interest @ 9% per annum, on the awarded amount, from the date of filing the present complaint till its realisation.  Copy of order be supplied by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Amritsar as per rules. File be sent back to the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Amritsar.

Announced in Open Commission

24.11.2022