VADODARA: In a first, Vadodara
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has issued an arrest warrant against a builder for fleeing away to the US without complying with its order passed in 2015. The forum has served the warrant to the
US ambassador in New Delhi to arrest builder Tejas Patel.
Patel had taken Rs 50,000 from 24
flat buyers in his project –
Vrundavan Residency – at New Sama Road as maintenance when they had booked the property. Patel had promised the buyers that he would return the money at the time of handing over the possession of the flats. According to the complaint of the buyers, when they were given possession of the flats in 2014, they found several faults in them.
The buyers then went to Patel to complain about the faults and asked him to return their maintenance amount. Patel told them that he would return the money only if they gave an undertaking on a stamp paper declaring that there were no faults in the flats. The flat owners then filed a complaint in the consumer forum here through Jagrut Nagrik – a voluntary consumer association.
A year later, the court ruled that Patel would have to return the amount to all flat holders along with nine per cent interest and Rs 30,000 towards mental harassment and legal cost. But he challenged the judgement in the state commission where his appeal was rejected and the forum’s judgement of returning money was upheld.
When Patel did not return the money, the complainants appealed to the court following which the forum issued a show cause notice against Patel. The builder then returned Rs 8.8 lakh of the total Rs 16 lakh. When the remaining amount was not returned, the court issued a warrant against Patel. “When the police went to Patel’s house to serve him the warrant, his father told them that he was not at home and had gone to the US,” said P V Moorjani, managing trustee of Jagrut Nagrik.
On Moorjani’s appeal, the consumer forum wrote to the US ambassador along with a copy of the warrant. The forum has directed that Patel be arrested and produced before the court before June 30.
