RERA verification and compliance measures limited statewide re-scrutiny refused, but systemic safeguards and enforcement directions issued

The statutory scheme under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 requires project registration on the basis of authenticated approvals and commencement certificates, and permits revocation where registrations are tainted. The Court declined to order a speculative statewide re-scrutiny of all RERA registrations in Maharashtra because there was no concrete prima facie material showing widespread fraud across identified projects. It nevertheless recognised the need for systemic verification and directed measures to strengthen compliance, including website integration, prompt uploading and verification of certificates, and enforcement action against identified illegal structures.

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Issues: Whether directions should be issued to ensure statewide verification of commencement certificates and sanctioned plans before real estate project registration under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and whether a generalized re-scrutiny of all RERA registrations in Maharashtra was warranted.

Analysis: The petition arose from concern over fraudulent commencement certificates and unauthorized constructions. The statutory scheme of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 requires prior registration of projects, submission of authenticated approvals and commencement certificates, and empowers the Authority to revoke registrations in appropriate cases. On the material placed, the Authority and State authorities had already taken substantial steps, including revocation of tainted registrations, directives for website integration, and a mechanism for uploading and verifying statutory certificates. The Court also noted that a writ court cannot order a speculative or roving inquiry across all registrations in the absence of concrete prima facie material showing widespread fraud in identified projects. At the same time, the record showed that systemic verification measures were necessary and were being implemented, and directions could be issued to strengthen that process.

Conclusion: A broad prayer for statewide re-scrutiny of all RERA registrations was declined, but limited directions were issued to secure verification, website integration, prompt uploading of certificates, and demolition of identified illegal structures. The relief was therefore granted only to the extent of systemic compliance and specific enforcement measures.

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