TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (6) TMI 1085
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....st thereon as also paying additional costs for mental harassment, litigation and the interest paid by the respondents to the State Bank of India, for the loans that they had secured to arrange for the funds required to be invested in the project. 3. For the sake of convenience we only illustrate the facts of CC No.438 of 2017 filed by Anupam Garg, which are similar to the facts being in CC No.439 of 2017 filed by Rajiv Kumar. The sequence of events and background (as per CC 438 of 2017), as have been culled out by the Commissions, leading up to these appeals are: 3.1 GMADA launched a scheme of residential flats termed 'Purab Premium Apartments' to be constructed in the Sector 88 locality, at Mohali in the year 2011. Anupam Garg secured an application form for a 2-BHK + Servant Room Residential Apartment-Type II upon payment of 10% of the total consideration of Rs. 55 lakhs, i.e., Rs. 5,50,000/- as earnest money. 3.2 The allotment of the flats took place through a 'draw of lots' on 19th March, 2012. He was successful and a Letter of Intent LOI was issued in his favour on 21st May, 2012. It provided details regarding price, payment schedule, possible plans of payment, locations wh....
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.... on free hold basis. (II) Possession of apartment shall be handed over after completion of development works at site in a period of 36 months from the date of issuance of Letter of Intent. In case for any reason, the Authority is unable to deliver the possession of apartments within stipulated period, allottee shall have the right to withdraw from the scheme by moving an application to the Estate Officer, in which case, the Authority shall refund the entire amount deposited by the applicant along with 8 % interest compounded annually. Apart from this, there shall be no other liability of the Authority. (III) The ownership and possession of apartments shall continue to vest with Greater Mohali Area Development Authority until full payment is made of outstanding dues in respect of said apartment. (IV) The allottee shall be required to execute a Deed of Conveyance in prescribed format and manner within 90 days of payment of entire money. The expenses of registration and execution of Conveyance Deed shall be borne by the allottee. (V) There shall be bar on sale of the apartment till 2 years after handing over of possession or 5 years from date of issuance of LOI whichever i....
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....ted position that the respondents had paid a substantial amount of consideration towards the flats they were to receive and only a small portion of the total consideration remained to be paid. e) The respondents were entitled to withdraw from the scheme. GMADA cannot be accorded any benefit on the ground that they had offered possession to the respondents on 29th June, 2016, which is more than a year after the stipulated date of completion. 6. Having come to the conclusions as above, the State Commission passed the following order: "17. In view of the above discuss, the Consumer Complaint No.438 of 2017 is accepted and the opposite party is directed to refund the entire deposited amount of Rs.50,46,250/- to the complainant along with interest at the rate of 8%, compounded annually under Clause 3(II) of the Letter of Intent, Ex. C-2. The opposite party shall also pay a compensation of Rs.60,000/- to the complainant for mental tension and harassment suffered by him and Rs.30,000/-, as costs of litigation. The opposite party shall also pay the interest paid by the complainant to State Bank of India on the loan taken from it and paid to the opposite party for the purchase of the f....
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....eral other judgments, laid down seven principles regarding grant/non-grant of relief to an allottee who is aggrieved by non-delivery or delay in delivery of plots/flats. This case is covered by the first one, which is as follows : "(a) Where the development authority having received the full price, does not deliver possession of the allotted plot/flat/house within the time stipulated or within a reasonable time, or where the allotment is cancelled or possession is refused without any justifiable cause, the allottee is entitled for refund of the amount paid, with reasonable interest thereon from the date of payment to date of refund. In addition, the allottee may also be entitled to compensation, as may be decided with reference to the facts of each case." 12. The observations made in GDA v. Balbir Singh (2004) 5 SCC 65 are also important when it comes to the determination of compensation. It was held as under : "...Thus the Forum or the Commission must determine that there has been deficiency in service and/or misfeasance in public office which has resulted in loss or injury. No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down, however, a few examples would be where an allotment is ....
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....ent must be awarded depending on the extent of harassment. Similarly, if after delivery of possession, the sale deeds or title deeds are not executed without any justifiable reasons, the compensation would depend on the amount of harassment suffered. We clarify that the above are mere examples. They are not exhaustive. The above shows that compensation cannot be the same in all cases irrespective of the type of loss or injury suffered by the consumer." 13. The entitlement of compensation, therefore, is not in dispute. A reference to Balbir Singh (supra) shows that compensation can take different forms, considering the facts and circumstances at hand. Determination has to be made, keeping in view the stage of the work completed, where the service provider has lapsed in duty and the loss caused thereby etc. Uniformity is foreign to such determination. Here only we may observe that the State Commission, as well as NCDRC's reliance on Priyanka Nayyar (supra) is misplaced. In that case, Rs. 2 lakhs was given as compensation, taking into account that the complainant had suffered interest in the loan taken at the rate of 10.75%. It was not given as payment for the interest itself. By pl....
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....ject is required to keep in mind. For, so far as they are concerned, such a consideration is irrelevant. The one who is buying a flat is a consumer, and the one who is building it is a service provider. That is the only relationship between the parties. If there is a deficiency or delay in service, the consumer is entitled to be compensated for the same. Repayment of the entire principal amount along with 8% interest thereon, as stipulated in the contract, alongside the clarification that there shall be no other liability on the authority, sufficiently meets this requirement. 16. In DLF Homes Panchkula (P) Ltd. (supra), it was also observed as follows: "17. This Court in a judgment reported as Irrigation Department, State of Orissa v. G.C. Roy [Irrigation Department, State of Orissa v. G.C. Roy, (1992) 1 SCC 508] examined the question as to whether an arbitrator has the power to award interest pendente lite. It was held that a person deprived of use of money to which he is legitimately entitled has a right to be compensated for the deprivation which may be called interest, compensation or damages. Thus, keeping in view the said principle laid down in the aforesaid judgment, the ....