Complainant Anoop Singh has filed the present complaint against the opposite parties U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act (for short, C.P.Act.) seeking necessary directions to the opposite parties to provide all facilities as promised by them in their prospectus. Opposite parties be also directed to pay Rs.15,000/- as litigation expenses.

2.       The case of the complainant in brief is that in the year 2006 the opposite parties published advertisement for the sale of plots in Dev. Scheme known as Rai Sahib Land Area (8.64 acres) opposite Punjab Roadways Workshop Jalandhar Road, Batala. It was also published in prospectus that the scheme is well planned and all modern facilities such as wide road, parks, open space, parking place and all infrastructures such as water supply, sewerage, wide roads and street light etc. are being provided. On the basis of such advertisement he applied for the purchase of abovesaid plot. Opposite parties allotted a plot no.32 measuring area 120 square meter vide letter memo No.2169/BIET/07 dated 17.8.2007 and No.1531/BIET/07 dated 26.6.2007 to him. He has further pleaded that he after getting all the formalities completed took possession of the aforesaid plot from the opposite parties and thereafter on 29.6.2010 he got executed and registered the sale deed from the opposite parties before the Sub Registrar, Batala. In the allotted plot he built his residential house according to the norms of the Improvement Trust, Batala and now he is residing in his house in Improvement Trust Colony. Many other peoples who were also allotted plots made residential houses and are living in the aforesaid colony. He has next pleaded that opposite parties have not provided the facilities as mentioned in their prospectus and permanent electric connection was also not passed after so many years. He has taken temporary electricity connection and paying the bills for electricity consumption at the higher rates i.e. Rs.13/- per unit approximately. He and other inhabitants of the locality had written letters and requested orally to the opposite parties for the regularization of the electricity connection and provide them all facilities those were mentioned in the prospectus but they did not pay any heed to their request and till date they are suffering great loss and mentally harassment. Thus, there is clear cut deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties. Hence this complaint.

3.       Notice of the complaint was issued to the opposite parties who appeared through their counsel and filed their joint written reply by taking the preliminary objections that the complaint is not maintainable; the opposite party is not bound to provide permanent electric connection. It is the duty of the complainant to apply for the same with Electricity Corporation. On merits, it was submitted that opposite party has provided all the facilities as per rules, terms and conditions. The opposite party has no concern with the permanent electric supply connection. It is the duty of the complainant to apply for the same with competent authority and to complete the formalities. The opposite party is not at fault in this regard. It never amounts to deficiency in service. All other averments made in the complaint have been denied and lastly the complaint has been prayed to be dismissed with costs.

4.       Counsel for the complainant tendered into evidence affidavit of complainant Ex.CW1, alongwith other documents Ex.C1 to Ex.C14 and closed the evidence.  

5.       Sh.Randhir Singh, presently working as Assistant Trust Engineer Improvement Trust, Batala tendered into evidence his own affidavit Ex.OP1, alongwith other document Ex.OP2 and closed the evidence.

6.       We have carefully gone through the pleadings of both the parties; arguments advanced by their respective counsels and have also appreciated the evidence produced on record with the valuable assistance of the learned counsels for the purposes of adjudication of the present complaint.

7.       We find from the Ex.C3 Brochure (priced at Rs.100/-) the OP Trust has advertised the Residential Scheme as well planned with all modern facilities such as: wide road, parks, open space, Parking Place and all infrastructure such as w/s, sewerage, wide roads and street light etc but the OP Trust in its written reply has invariably denied/refuted all the complainant’s allegations of non-supply of the basic amenities and infrastructure facilities etc [at the Trusts’ Rai Sahib Land Area (8.64 acre) Residential Scheme Colony, at Batala]; mainly comprising of: Wide Roads, Parks, Open-space, Parking-place and Water supply, Sewerage, Street-lights etc except the Electric supply connections for which the residents themselves need to have applied to the competent authority after completion of all the necessary pre-requisites etc. However, to break-over the dead-lock of aspersions & its counters, the Forum vide its Orders dated 27.02.2015 appointed Sh. K. K. Attri Advocate as the Local Commissioner to report the site-factual and that has been duly placed on the records on 24.03.2015 duly supported by the site-photographs. The Local Commissioner has categorically reported the absence of the promised facility of ‘water-supply’; non-completion of ‘wide roads’, street-light poles without lighting tubes/ bulbs, electric meter boxes without any Meters; Parks in bad condition; non-supply of electricity through the installed Transformer(s) etc to the allottee residents of the Colony in question. We also find that during the course of arguments the counsel for the OP Trust has placed on record the letter # 1057 dated 04.10.2013 from the Chairman, Improvement Trust to the SDO, Electricity Sub-Division, Batala; enclosing the cheque # 000053 dated 04.10.2013 for Rs.21,19,235/- in compliance of the Demand Notice # 655 dated 01.07.2013 for supply of Electricity to the Colony Residents but no results and/ or follow up measures have been apprised of. Further, the Local Commissioners’ Report has neither been rebutted nor contested by the OP Trust and that gives rise to the legal presumption of implied ‘admittance’ by them.

8.       In the light of the all above, we partly allow the present complaint and hold the OP Trust as guilty of ‘deficiency in service’ for having not provided the promised facilities to the complainant (along with the other allottee residents of the Colony) and thus ORDER the titled OP Trust to provide the complete promised facilities/infrastructure etc to the complainant besides to pay Rs .20,000/- to the present complainant as compensation and Rs.5,000/- as litigation expenses within a period of 30 days from the receipt of the copy of these orders otherwise the awarded amount shall attract interest @ 9% PA from the date of the orders till actually paid.   

9.       Copy of the order be communicated to the concerned parties free of charges and the file be consigned to records.

              (Naveen Puri)

                                                                                 President

ANNOUNCED:                                              (Jagdeep Kaur)                       

May 08,2015.                                                            Member                                       

*MK*