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2021 (9) TMI 1154

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....red to as the lead matter. 2. The Department of Town and Country Planning granted a license to Respondent No. 3 - Precision Realtors Pvt. Ltd. and Respondent No. 4 - Blue Planet Infra Developers and Madeira Conbuild Pvt. Ltd. for developing a group housing colony on a vast tract of land admeasuring about 37.5125 acres where multiple towers comprising of 1356 apartments were to be constructed. Subsequently, the license for construction was transferred to the Appellant-Developer. 3. On 23.07.2013, the Building Plans of the project were sanctioned by the Directorate of Town and Country Planning, Haryana. Clause 3 of the sanctioned Plan stipulated that NOC/Clearance from the Fire Authority shall be submitted within 90 days from the date of issuance of the sanctioned Building Plans. 4. The Developer opened booking for the apartments in 2013. On 07.08.2013, the Respondent No. 1- Apartment Buyer was allotted a 2 BHK apartment in Tower-C of the project. Similar allotment letters were issued to various other Apartment Buyers in the housing project. 5. On 23/24.10.2013, the Developer applied for issuance of an NOC for the Fire Fighting Scheme of the group housing colony to the Commission....

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....instalments, and provides that: 7. PAYMENT OF INSTALLMENTS 7.1 The Allottee has opted for the Payment Plan annexed herewith as Annexure-IV. The Allottee understands that it shall always remain responsible for making timely payments in accordance with the Payment Plan Annexure-IV. Only in the case of a construction linked Payment Plan, the Company shall be obliged to send demand notices for installments on or about the completion of the respective stages of construction. The demand notices shall be sent by registered post/courier and shall be deemed to have been received by the Allottee within 05 (five) days of dispatch by the Company or receipt thereof, whichever is earlier. 7.2 It shall not be obligatory on the part of the Company to send any reminders for any payments whatsoever. Although the Company shall not be obliged to send demand notices other than for the construction linked Payment Plan, or any reminders whatsoever for payments of the instalment, in the event that any such notices or reminders are sent by the Company to the Allottee, as a gesture of courtesy, these shall not, under any circumstances, be construed or deemed to be a waiver of the obligations and respo....

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....y right against the said Apartment or under this Agreement whatsoever. The Company shall issue the payment receipts only in favour of the Allottee. Notwithstanding the above, the Allottee is and shall remain solely and absolutely responsible for ensuring and making all the payments due under this Agreement on time. 7.6 The Allottee may obtain finance/loan from any financial institution, bank or any other source, but the Allottee's obligation to purchase the said Apartment pursuant to this Agreement shall not be contingent on the Allottee's ability or competency to obtain such finance. The Allottee would remain bound under this Agreement whether or not it has been able to obtain finance for the purchase of the said Apartment. The Allottee agrees and has fully understood that the Company shall not be under any obligation whatsoever to make any arrangement for the finance/loan facilities to the Allottee from any bank/financial institution. The Allottee shall not omit, ignore, delay, withhold, or fail to make timely payments due to the Company in accordance with the Payment Plan opted by the Allottee in terms of this Agreement on the grounds of the non-availability of bank lo....

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....d under any provision(s) of this Agreement including but not limited to the timely payment of all dues and charges including the total Sale Consideration, registration charges, stamp duty and other charges and also subject to the Allottee having complied with all formalities or documentation as prescribed by the Company, the Company proposes to offer the possession of the said Apartment to the Allottee within a period of 42 (Forty Two) months from the date of approval of the Building Plans and/or fulfilment of the preconditions imposed thereunder ("Commitment Period"). The Allottee further agrees and understands that the Company shall additionally be entitled to a period of 180 days ("Grace Period"), after the expiry of the said Commitment Period to allow for unforeseen delays beyond the reasonable control of the Company. 13.4. Subject to Clause 13.3, if the Company fails to offer possession of the said Apartment to the Allottee by the end of the Grace Period, it shall be liable to pay to the Allottee compensation calculated at the rate of Rs. 7.5 (Rupees Seven & Half only) per sq. ft. of the Super Area ("Delay Compensation'") for every month of delay until the actual date fi....

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....o the Company and all other obligations imposed under this Agreement have been fulfilled by the Allottee to the complete satisfaction of the Company. 13.8. The Allottee hereby agrees and affirms that upon taking possession of the said Apartment, the Allottee shall be deemed to have waived all claims against the Company/Confirming Parties, if any, in respect of the area, specifications, quality, construction and/or any item, amenity or provision in the said Apartment or The Corridors Project. (emphasis supplied) Clause 21.3 reads as under: 21. TIME IS OF ESSENCE; TERMINATION AND FORFEITURE OF EARNEST MONEY 21.1 Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement, timely performance by the Allottee of all its obligations under this Agreement or exercise of any options wherever and wherever and whenever indicated herein this Agreement including without limitation its obligations to make timely payments of the Sale Consideration, maintenance charges and other deposits and amounts, including any interest, in accordance with this Agreement shall be of essence under this Agreement. If the Allottee neglects, omits, ignores, or fails in the timely performance of its obligations a....

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....le to the Company against the Allottee. (emphasis supplied) 9. On 27.12.2017, Respondent No. 1 filed a Consumer Complaint being Consumer Case No. 3823 of 2017 before the National Commission, wherein it was inter alia prayed that the Developer be directed to refund the amount of Rs. 1,44,72,364/- paid by the Apartment Buyer alongwith interest @ 20% per annum compounded quarterly till realization, and compensation towards damages on account of harassment, mental agony and litigation charges. The Apartment Buyer inter alia submitted that the Developer had invited applications from the public for booking flats in the housing complex "The Corridors", by misrepresenting that all necessary approvals/pre-clearances with respect to the and constructions had already been obtained from the office of the Director, Town and Country Planning, Haryana, and other civil authorities. The Developer had misrepresented at the time of booking that the project would have a 90-meters motorable access road approaching the project from Junction 63A to 67A which was shown in the Apartment Buyer's Agreement in the layout plan. However, there was no access road of 90-meters to the project, and/or 24-me....

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....ional Commission in another case titled as "IREO Grace Realtech Pvt. Ltd. v. Ritu Hasija" being CC No. 190 of 2017 and connected matters, decided on 18.09.2018, held that Clause 44 of that Agreement was wholly unfair and one-sided, which gave only a limited right to the Apartment Buyers to terminate the agreement, and seek refund of the amount paid by them. Clause 21.3 of the Flat Buyers Agreement read in conjunction with the other Clauses of the Agreement would result in a situation where a flat buyer, despite the failure of the builder to offer possession within the time stipulated, would be practically left remediless for 1½ years from the date of default, with no interest or compensation payable to him, even though the money was utilized by the builder. Even the principal amount would be refunded at an uncertain future point, after the builder had sold the apartment allotted to the complainant. Such a term was wholly unfair and unjust since the Developer had the right to terminate the agreement even if a single default occurred on the part of the Buyers, and forfeit the earnest money, and deduct other charges specified in Clause 21.3 of the Buyers Agreement. Clause 44 po....

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....ttees, the Authority was of the view that refund cannot be allowed at this stage. The Developer was directed to handover possession of the apartment by 30.06.2020, as per the Registration Certificate for the project. 14. The present batch of consumer complaints was decided by the National Commission vide judgment and order dated 28.03.2019, which has been impugned herein. The National Commission has allowed the consumer complaints in terms of the earlier order passed in the Subodh Pawar case (supra). The National Commission recorded the statement of the counsel for the complainants that in order to avoid any further litigation, the complainants were restricting their claim for refund of the principal amount paid to the Developer, alongwith compensation @ 10% S.I. p.a. w.e.f. from 10.07.2017, which was awarded by this Court to another allottee in the same project as per Consent Order dated 28.01.2019 passed in Civil Appeal Diary No. 48101 of 2018. 15. We have heard the learned Counsel for the parties. The issues which have arisen for consideration are: (i) Determination of the date from which the 42 months period for handing over possession is to be calculated under Clause 13.3,....

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.... fulfilment of the pre-conditions under the Building Plan, and must be given effect to by any adjudicatory body. (c) Under Sections 15(2) and (3) of the Haryana Fire Service Act, 2009, it is the duty of the Authority to grant a provisional NOC within a period of 60 days from the date of submission of the application. The delay/failure of the Authority to grant a provisional NOC cannot be attributed to the Developer. (d) The Apartment Buyers was not required to pay the entire consideration amount at the commencement of the agreement, in a lump sum amount, since the consideration was linked to the construction plan, and was payable in instalments at various stages of the construction. The Developer had not taken any instalment prior to 27.11.2014, when the Fire Safety NOC was granted. The first instalment was taken on 27.01.2015, when a demand for casting the lower roof slab was made from the allottees. All substantial payments of the project were based on milestones linked to construction. (e) It was submitted that in large development projects, where multiple towers are being constructed, delays are inevitable. The Agreement contemplated a reasonable Grace Period of 180 day....

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....iew of the conflicting views taken by the two Fora which exercise original jurisdiction, it is the order of RERA which ought to be upheld. Particularly, since RERA is a specialized fact-finding authority with respect to real estate projects, it is the special law which must prevail over the general law. RERA has been established under the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 ("RERA Act"), for Regulation and promotion of the real estate sector. (j) It was submitted that by 21.07.2017, the construction of Phase I of the project had been completed, which comprised of Towers A6 -A10, B1 - B4, and C3 - C7, for which the Occupation Certificate was issued on 31.05.2019, and an offer of possession was made to the apartment buyers. With respect to the remaining Towers in Cluster-A comprising of buildings A1 to A5; Cluster-B comprising of buildings B5 to B8; and, Cluster-C comprising of buildings C8 to C11, the application for grant of part Occupation Certificate was submitted on 10.09.2019, which is pending approval. The Developer made an alternate offer to the apartment buyers whose allotments were in Phase-II of the project, where the Occupancy Certificate has yet to be ....

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....er the Building Plan Approval nor Section 15 of the Haryana Safety Act, 2009 places any restriction on the commencement of construction, which would be evident from the fact that the Developer had started the construction before the grant of the Fire NOC. (e) The sanctioned Building Plans stipulated that the NOC for Fire Safety (Provisional) was required to be obtained within a period of 90 days from the date of approval of the Building Plans, which expired on 21.10.2013. The Developer applied for the Provisional Fire Approval on 24.10.2013 after the expiry of the mandatory 90 days' period got over. The application filed was deficient and casual and did not provide the requisite details. The Appellant submitted the corrected sets of drawings as per the NBC-2005 Fire Scheme only on 13.10.2014, which reflected the laxity of the Developer in obtaining the Fire NOC. The approval of the Fire Safety Scheme took more than 16 months from the date of the Building Plan approval i.e. from 23.07.2013 to 27.11.2014. The Builder failed to give any explanation for the inordinate delay in obtaining the Fire NOC. (f) The Respondents placed reliance on the order passed in the case of IREO ....

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....and issue of no objection certificate.--(1) Any person proposing to construct a building to be used for any purpose other than residential purpose or a building proposed to be used for residential purpose of more than 15 meters in height, such as group housing, multi-storeyed flats, walk-up apartments, etc. before the commencement of the construction, shall apply for the approval of Fire Fighting Scheme conforming to National Building Code of India, the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (53 of 2005), the Factories Act, 1948 (Act 63 of 1948) and the Punjab Factory Rules, 1952, and issue of no objection certificate on such form, alongwith such field as may be prescribed. (2) The Director or any officer duly authorised by him in this behalf, may take cognizance of any application and issue such instructions and orders regarding the building plan and for construction by issuing a provisional no objection certificate before the construction is taken up. Explanation. -In case any person proposes to increase the number of floors on any building already constructed in such a manner that it shall qualify for being termed as a high rise building, shall before construction, apply for no objec....

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....dequate fire fighting measures have been installed by you and suitable external fire fighting infrastructure has been created at Gurgaon, by Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon. A clearance to this effect shall be obtained from the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon before grant of occupation certificate by the Director General. 18.5. On receipt of the Fire Plans, the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, after satisfying himself with the entire fire protection measures as in conformity with the National Building Code, 2005 ("NBC") and the Fire Safety Bye-Laws, would issue an NOC for Fire Safety. This NOC/Clearance was required to be submitted before the Municipal Corporation, within a period of 90 days' from the issuance of the sanctioned Building Plans. 18.6. Clause 17(iv) of the sanctioned Plan stipulated that the Developer shall obtain an NOC from the Ministry of Environment & Forests, before starting the construction/execution of development works at site. 17(iv). That the Developer shall obtain the clearance/NOC as per the provisions of the Notification No. S.O. 1533(E) : dated 14.09.2006 issued by Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India b....

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.... 15 days' to cure the defects, failing which, its application would be deemed to be rejected. The Developer submitted revised drawings as per the NBC Fire Scheme alongwith its letter dated 18.08.2014. This letter was received in the office of the Municipal Corporation on 13.10.2014, as per endorsement on the said letter. 18.11. On 27.11.2014, the Director, Haryana Fire Service granted approval to the Fire Fighting Scheme subject to the conditions mentioned therein. The computation of the period for handing over possession would be computed from this date. The Commitment Period of 42 months plus the Grace Period of 6 months from 27.11.2014, would be 27.11.2018, as being the relevant date for offer of possession. The aforesaid chronology for obtaining Fire NOC would indicate a delay of approximately 7 months in obtaining the Fire NOC by the Developer. 19. Whether the terms of the Apartment Buyer's Agreement are one-sided? The second issue which has been raised by the Apartment Buyers is that the Agreement in this case, contains wholly one-sided clauses, and would not be bound by its terms. 19.1. We have carefully perused the terms of the Agreement, and an analysis of th....

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....ligation, except to refund the amounts already paid by the allottee, without any interest, and after forfeiting and deducting the earnest money, interest on delayed payments, brokerage/commission/charges, service tax and other amounts due and payable to it. The principal amount after the aforesaid deductions are made, would be refunded at an uncertain future date i.e. after the Developer had sold the apartment allotted to the complainant. In contrast, the allottee is given a very limited right to cancel the Agreement solely in the event of the clear and unambiguous failure of the warranties of the Company, which leads to frustration of the Agreement on that account. In such case, the allottee will be entitled to a refund of the instalments actually paid, along with interest @ 8% p.a. within a period of 90 days from the date of determination to this effect. No other claim, whatsoever, monetary or otherwise shall lie against the Company. 19.2. The aforesaid clauses reflect the wholly one-sided terms of the Apartment Buyer's Agreement, which are entirely loaded in favour of the Developer, and against the allottee at every step. The terms of the Apartment Buyer's Agreement ....

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....ts widening effect has been explained in Dilworth v. Commissioner of Stamps [1899 AC 99 : 15 TLR 61] as under: 'include' is very generally used in interpretation clauses in order to enlarge the meaning of the words or phrases occurring in the body of the statute, and when it is so used these words or phrases must be construed as comprehending, not only such things as they signify according to their natural, import, but also those things which the definition Clause declares that they shall include. It has been approved by this Court in Regional Director, Employees' State Insurance Corporation v. High Land Coffee Works of P.F.X. Saldanha and Sons [ (1991) 3 SCC 617]; CIT v. Taj Mahal Hotel, Secunderabad [(1971) 3 SCC 550] and State of Bombay v. Hospital Mazdoor Sabha [AIR 1960 SC 610: (1960) 2 SCR 866: (1960) 1 LLJ 251]. The provisions of the Act thus have to be construed in favour of the consumer to achieve the purpose of enactment as it is a social benefit oriented legislation. The primary duty of the court while construing the provisions of such an Act is to adopt a constructive approach subject to that it should not do violence to the language of the provisions an....

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....unfair method or unfair or deceptive practice including any of the following practices, namely: .......... (emphasis supplied) The said definition is an inclusive one, as held by this Court in Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd. v. Govindan Raghavan (2019) 5 SCC 725, wherein this Court speaking through one of us (J. Indu Malhotra) held: 6.1.... The inordinate delay in handing over possession of the flat clearly amounts to deficiency of service. In Fortune Infrastructure v. Trevor D'Lima [Fortune Infrastructure v. Trevor D'Lima, (2018) 5 SCC 442: (2018) 3 SCC (Civ) 1], this Court held that a person cannot be made to wait indefinitely for possession of the flat allotted to him, and is entitled to seek refund of the amount paid by him, along with compensation. 6.2. The Respondent flat purchaser has made out a clear case of deficiency of service on the part of the Appellant builder. The Respondent flat purchaser was justified in terminating the apartment buyer's agreement by filing the consumer complaint, and cannot be compelled to accept the possession whenever it is offered by the builder. The Respondent purchaser was legally entitled to seek refund of the m....

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....e consumer for the loss or injury caused by the opposite party, or discontinue the unfair or restrictive trade practices. 19.7. We are of the view that the incorporation of such one-sided and unreasonable clauses in the Apartment Buyer's Agreement constitutes an unfair trade practice Under Section 2(1)(r) of the Consumer Protection Act. Even under the 1986 Act, the powers of the consumer fora were in no manner constrained to declare a contractual term as unfair or one-sided as an incident of the power to discontinue unfair or restrictive trade practices. An "unfair contract" has been defined under the 2019 Act, and powers have been conferred on the State Consumer Fora and the National Commission to declare contractual terms which are unfair, as null and void. This is a statutory recognition of a power which was implicit under the 1986 Act. In view of the above, we hold that the Developer cannot compel the apartment buyers to be bound by the one-sided contractual terms contained in the Apartment Buyer's Agreement. 20. Whether primacy to be given to RERA over the Consumer Protection Act 20.1. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted to protect the interests of consum....

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....1 SCC 305 this Court held that: 11. From the Statement of Objects and Reasons and the scheme of the 1986 Act, it is apparent that the main objective of the Act is to provide for better protection of the interest of the consumer and for that purpose to provide for better redressal, mechanism through which cheaper, easier, expeditious and effective redressal is made available to consumers. To serve the purpose of the Act, various quasi judicial forums are set up at the district, State and national level with wide range of powers vested in them. These quasi-judicial forums, observing the principles of natural justice, are empowered to give relief of a specific nature and to award, wherever appropriate, compensation to the consumers and to impose penalties for non-compliance with their orders. 12. As per Section 3 of the Act, as already stated above, the provisions of the Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other provisions of any other law for the time being in force. Having due regard to the scheme of the Act and purpose sought to be achieved to protect the interest of the consumers better, the provisions are to be interpreted broadly, positively and purposef....

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....ed to an appropriate arbitrator and the District Consumer Forums were not entitled to entertain their complaint. This contention represents an extension of the main objection of the Appellant that the only remedy available to the farmers and growers who claim to have suffered loss on account of use of defective seeds sold/supplied by the Appellant was to file complaints with the Seed Inspectors concerned for taking action Under Sections 19 and/or 21 of the Seeds Act. 66. The remedy of arbitration is not the only remedy available to a grower. Rather, it is an optional remedy. He can either seek reference to an arbitrator or file a complaint under the Consumer Protection Act. If the grower opts for the remedy of arbitration, then it may be possible to say that he cannot, subsequently, file complaint under the Consumer Protection Act. However, if he chooses to file a complaint in the first instance before the competent Consumer Forum, then he cannot be denied relief by invoking Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Moreover, the plain language of Section 3 of the Consumer Protection Act makes it clear that the remedy available in that Act is in addition to and not....

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....n an efficient and transparent manner and to protect the interest of consumers in real estate sector and establish the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals from the decisions, directions or orders of the Authority. (emphasis supplied) 20.5. Section 18 of the RERA Act, 2016 provides the remedy of refund with interest and compensation to allottees, when a Developer fails to complete the construction or give possession as per the Agreement of Sale. The remedies Under Section 18 are "without prejudice to any other remedy available". 20.6. Section 71 of the RERA Act empowers the RERA Authority to determine compensation payable Under Sections 12, 14, 18 and 19 of the Act. The proviso to Section 71 provides that a consumer has the right to withdraw its complaint before the consumer fora in respect of matters covered Under Sections 12, 14, 18 and 19 of the Act, and file the same before the RERA. Section 71 reads as: 71. Power to adjudicate. - (1) For the purpose of adjudging compensation Under Sections 12, 14, 18 and Section 19, the Authority shall appoint, in consultation with the appropriate Government, one or more judicial officer as deemed necessary, who is or has bee....

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....the party to whom the said remedies are available has the option to elect either of them but that doctrine would not apply to cases where the ambit and scope of the two remedies is essentially different. To hold otherwise may lead to injustice and inconsistent results. .... Since, the Corporation must be held entitled and given full protection by the Court to recover its dues it cannot be bound down to adopt only one of the two remedies provided under the Act. In our opinion the Corporation can initially take recourse to Section 31 of the Act but withdraw or abandon it at any stage and take recourse to the provisions of Section 29 of the Act, which Section deals with not only the rights but also provides a self-contained remedy to the Corporation for recovery of its dues. If the Corporation chooses to take recourse to the remedy available Under Section 31 of the Act and pursues the same to the logical conclusion and obtains an order or decree, it may thereafter execute the order or decree, in the manner provided by Section 32(7) and (8) of the Act. The Corporation, however, may withdraw or abandon the proceedings at that stage and take recourse to the provisions of Section 29 of th....

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....rine of estoppel by election is one of the species of estoppel in pais (or equitable estoppel) which is a Rule in equity. By that rule, a person may be precluded by his actions or conduct or silence when it is his duty to speak, from asserting a right which he otherwise would have had. (vide Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edn.) In National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Mastan and Ors. (2006) 2 SCC 641, claims for compensation were filed both under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. This Court held that the doctrine of election was incorporated in Section 167 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The relevant extract from the judgment reads as follows: 23. The "doctrine of election" is a branch of "rule of estoppel", in terms whereof a person may be precluded by his actions or conduct or silence when it is his duty to speak, from asserting a right which he otherwise would have had. The doctrine of election postulates that when two remedies are available for the same relief, the aggrieved party has the option to elect either of them but not both. Although there are certain exceptions to the same Rule but the same has no application in the instant case. ... ....

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....er the matters in dispute, and he resorts for his remedy to one of such Tribunals in preference to the other, he is precluded, as against his opponent, from any subsequent recourse to the latter" (see R. v. Evans [(1854) 3 E & B 363 : 118 ER 1178]) is fully incorporated in the scheme of Section 167 of the Motor Vehicles Act, precluding the claimant who has invoked the Workmen's Compensation Act from having resort to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, except to the limited extent permitted therein. The claimant having resorted to the Workmen's Compensation Act, is controlled by the provisions of that Act subject only to the exception recognised in Section 167 of the Motor Vehicles Act. (emphasis supplied) In Transcore v. Union of India (2008) 1 SCC 125, this Court considered the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act, 2002 ("SARFAESI Act") and the Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 ("RDDB Act'), wherein it was held that there are three elements of election viz. existence of two or more remedies, inconsistencies between such remedies, and a choice of one ....

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....er the RERA Act. As against that the mandate in Section 12(4) of the CP Act to the contrary is quite significant. 32. Again, insofar as cases where such proceedings under the CP Act are initiated after the provisions of the RERA Act came into force, there is nothing in the RERA Act which bars such initiation. The absence of bar Under Section 79 to the initiation of proceedings before a fora which cannot be called a civil court and express saving Under Section 88 of the RERA Act, make the position quite clear. Further, Section 18 itself specifies that the remedy under the said Section is "without prejudice to any other remedy available". Thus, the parliamentary intent is clear that a choice or discretion is given to the allottee whether he wishes to initiate appropriate proceedings under the CP Act or file an application under the RERA Act. 21. Whether the Apartment Buyers are entitled to terminate the Agreement, or refund of the amount deposited with Delay Compensation. 21.1. The issue which now arises is whether the apartment buyers are bound to accept the offer of possession made by the Developer where the Occupation Certificate has been issued, along with the payment of Dela....

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....ng given before the NCLT, the Developer has failed to refund even the principal amount so far. We direct the Developer to refund the amount deposited by the said Appellant within a period 4 weeks from the date of this judgment with interest @ 9% p.a. from 16.09.2019 (date of the affidavit filed by the Developer before the NCLT). If this direction is not complied with, the Developer will be liable to pay Default Interest @12% p.a. on the entire amount. Chart B allottees (i) Insofar as the allottees in Chart B are concerned, they have paid part consideration, in most cases up to the 4th instalment till 2017, when they found that there was no progress being made in respect of the Towers in which the apartments had been allotted to them. It is an admitted position that Occupation Certificate for Towers A1, A2, A3, B7, C9 and C11, in which the allotments have been made for this category has not been issued by the Municipal Corporation. The apartments have not been ready for allotment even as on 30.06.2020, as per the date fixed before the RERA Authority. (ii) The allottees submitted that they were facing great hardship since they had obtained loans from Banks for purchasing th....