As per details, one Attar Singh of Yamunanagar, Haryana, had approached the commission and alleged that he paid Rs 1.60 Crore to GBP Group for the purchase of commercial space in their project named “GBP Centrum” in Singhpura village of Zirakpur.The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Chandigarh has directed realtors Gupta Builders and Promoters Private Limited (GBP) to refund Rs 1.60 crore that had been paid by a Haryana resident to purchase commercial space.
The commission also ordered the GBP Group to pay the complainant an additional Rs 1.35 lakh to the complainant as compensation as well as litigation costs in the present case.
As per details, one Attar Singh of Yamunanagar, Haryana, had approached the commission and alleged that he paid Rs 1.60 Crore to GBP Group for the purchase of commercial space in their project named “GBP Centrum” in Singhpura village of Zirakpur.
As per details of the case, an agreement of sale dated November 6, 2019, was executed between the parties, for the commercial space in question in Singhpura village. The possession of the unit was to be delivered latest by December 31, 2022.
However, the complainant said that it had come to his knowledge that the project in question has been abandoned and the directors of the company are at present absconding and believed to have left the country. The complainant also said that many criminal cases have been registered against the GBP Group directors so far.
The complainant added that the realtor had issued various cheques to him as payment of rent for his property.
However, all but two of the cheques pertaining to the year 2022 had been dishonoured by the bank(s) concerned for want of sufficient funds.
It was also averred by Singh that since the opposite party has abandoned the project and there is no possibility of delivery of possession of the unit in the near future, as such, the amount paid by the complainant which is Rs 1.60 crore be refunded along with interest, compensation and litigation expenses.
The commission, after hearing the matter exparte as no one turned up in court to represent GBP group, said that it was settled in law that the onus to prove the stage and status of construction and development work at the project site and that all the permissions/approvals have been obtained in respect thereof, is on the builder/developer.
The commission added that hard-earned money to the tune of Rs 1.60 crore was paid by the complainant with the hope to have his own unit. However, his hopes were dashed when he came to know that the project stood abandoned by the opposite parties (GBP) and that their directors had fled the country.
“From the peculiar circumstances of this case, it has been proved that the opposite parties made false representations, which were materially incorrect and were made in such a way that the complainant, to whom it was made, was entitled to rely upon it and he may act in reliance on it,” the commission said.
The commission thus ordered the realtor, GBP and its directors, to refund Rs 1.60 crore and pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation and Rs 35,000 as cost of litigation to the complainant.