BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES

REDRESSAL FORUM, JALANDHAR.

Complaint No.142 of 2015

Date of Instt. 06.04.2015

Date of Decision :21.09.2015

Sher Din son of Mohammed Ali R/o Near Punjab Kesri Press, GT Road, Suranussi, Tehsil & District Jalandhar, Punjab.

..........Complainant Versus

The Jalandhar Improvement Trust, Jalandhar through its Chairman.

.........Opposite party.

Complaint Under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act.

Before: S. Jaspal Singh Bhatia (President)

Ms. Jyotsna Thatai (Member)

Sh.Parminder Sharma (Member)

Present: Sh.Dinesh Jassi Adv., counsel for complainant.

Sh.SKS Chhabra Adv., counsel for opposite party.

Order

J.S.Bhatia (President)

1. The complainant has filed the present complaint under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, against the opposite party on the averments that the complainant was allotted LIG flat No.23-A, 2nd Floor, Vikas Scheme 51.5 acre (Bibi Bhani Complex), Guru Amardass Nagar, Jalandhar on 16.8.2009 in lucky draw dated 16.8.2009 at Red Cross Bhawan, Jalandhar and the information was given by JIT, Jalandhar vide its letter No.JIT/8006 dated 28.1.2010. The complainant has deposited all the requisite paper and performa for the registration application No.70087 and at the time of deposit of earnest money i.e Rs.60,000/- the complainant has availed housing loan from State Bank of India, Civil Lines, Jalandhar which has already been paid by the complainant. The complainant as per the terms and conditions has deposited all the installments in time which were required to be deposited by the complainant, last installment was deposited by complainant on 23.7.2012, now nothing is due towards the complainant. The other necessary fees and formality were completed within stipulated period, the only formality which was to be completed was to give the possession of the plot to the complainant. But till date possession of the plot has not been given to the complainant and moreover no reason has been assigned. On such like averments, the complainant has prayed for directing the opposite party to give him the possession of the flat. He has also demanded Rs.2 Lacs as damages and further Rs.22000/- as litigation expenses.

2. Upon notice, opposite party appeared but it did not file any written statement inspite of several opportunities offered to it for this purpose. Consequently, it was debarred from filing any written statement vide order dated 10.7.2015.

3. In support of his complaint, learned counsel for the complainant has tendered into evidence affidavit Ex.CA alongwith copies of documents Ex.C1 to Ex.C12 and closed evidence.

4. The opposite party did not lead any rebuttal evidence and same was closed by order vide order dated 31.8.2015. However, thereafter on 18.9.2015, the opposite party trust filed one affidavit which has been placed on record.

5. We have carefully gone through the record and also heard the learned counsels for the parties.

6. The complainant was allotted one LIG flat vide allotment letter dated 28.1.2010 Ex.C3. As per clause 7 of the allotment letter, the opposite party was to complete the construction within 2-1/2 years and thereafter opposite party could get the possession of the flat by executing an agreement with the trust. So it means that possession was to be delivered by the trust to the complainant in July/August, 2012. The complainant has deposited the amount with the trust vide receipts Ex.C5 to Ex.C11 and total of these receipts comes to Rs.4,96,184/-. The complainant has also paid Rs.60,000/- as earnest money as mentioned in application Ex.C1. So in all, he has already paid Rs.5,56,184/-. The grievance of the complainant is that opposite party trust has not handed over the possession to him till date. Even, if the affidavit filed by the executive officer of the trust is considered, it is evident that opposite party trust is at fault in not delivering the possession to the complainant. In the above said affidavit, the executive officer of the trust has, inter-alia, stated as under:-

"It is pertinent to mention here that the contract of constructing the flats of 51.5 acres scheme i.e Bibi Bhani Complex, was given to M/s S.K.Builders vide official letter No.JIT/4576 dated 17.11.2009 and as per the agreement the aforesaid builders has to complete the construction work by 16.5.2011. But without any cogent reason the said builders left the uncompleted construction work and accordingly several request letters were sent to the said builders for the completion of the work, but inspite of that the said builders not started the construction work and accordingly the opposite parties vide its resolution No.124 dated 3.3.2014, black listed the aforesaid building contractor. It is worthwhile to mention here that the bank guarantee and security given by the aforesaid builders was forfeited and it was also unanimously decided for re-starting of the construction work and the matter was referred to the Govt for approval. After considering all the facts of the Punjab Government gave the approval vide letter No.DSS-TSS 2014/4482 dated 14.11.2014 and the aforesaid builders were black listed.

It is pertinent to mention here that against the decision of the opposite parties, the aforesaid contractor/builders filled the writ petition before the Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court bearing No.CWP 12384 of 2014 and due to the matter subjudice before the Hon'ble High Court, the letter for releasing/encashing the bank guarantee from State Bank of India, Amritsar was not proceeded further.

It is further worthwhile to mention here that as the proceedings regarding the re-allotment of work to some other builder was going on. The aforesaid builder filed the CWP No.12384/2014 against the Secretary, Local Bodies, Punjab, Chairman, Executive Engineer and Superintending Engineer, Jalandhar Improvement Trust, Jalandhar and the matter regarding this fact is pending before the Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chandigarh. The complainant intentionally and deliberately concealed all these facts from this Hon'ble Court. It is worthwhile to mention here that the opposite party is trying its best for completion of the work after calling fresh tenders and as per decision of Hon'ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh".

7. So from the contents of the above affidavit filed by the executive officer, it is evident that opposite party has failed to complete the construction of the flat may be due to fault of the contractor or for some other reasons for which the complainant can not be blamed. So at present, it can not be held with certainty as to when the opposite party would be in position to deliver the possession of the flat in question to the complainant. So in these circumstances, we feel that giving compensation to the complainant is appropriate remedy. The opposite party trust was to deliver the possession to the complainant till July/August 2012 and the complainant has already paid Rs.5,56,184/- towards the price of the flat.

7. So in the above circumstances, the opposite party trust is directed to pay interest @ 9% per annum on the above said amount paid by the complainant as compensation from August 2012 till the date of delivery of possession to him. The complainant is also awarded Rs.3000/-on account of litigation expenses. Copies of the order be sent to the parties free of costs under rules. File be consigned to the record room.

Dated Parminder Sharma Jyotsna Thatai Jaspal Singh Bhatia

21.09.2015 Member Member President