THE
BOMBAY HIGH COURT HAS UPHELD THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF THE REAL ESTATE LAW
2016
Estate (regulation and Development) Act.A bench of
Justice Naresh Patil and Justice RG Ketkar passed the judgment after hearing
all parties in the matter and upheld the provisions of the new Act that came
into effect on May 1, 2017.
In September this year, after several petitions
challenging RERA were filed in high courts across the country, the Supreme
Court stayed the proceedings in other courts and suggested that the Bombay High
Court hear its RERA cases first.
Builders’ Contention-
Builders had challenged Sections 3 to 19 of the
Act.regarding regulating the transactions of ongoing projects and compelling
promoters to get the project registered under RERA from the date of
notification.
Petitioners
submitted that, the promoter has been given a liberty to declare the tenure
during which the project will be completed while getting the project registered
.However the extension of registration granted under Section 5 by the authority
is restricted to a period of one year which is unreasonable and an arbitrary
provision. It has not been taken into consideration the circumstances which are
beyond the control of the promoter while carrying out the developmental work.
The Petitioner prayed that extension of registration under Section 6 shall not
be restricted only to the force majure circumstances provided under the proviso
to Section 6 but all other factors also
A bench of
Justices Naresh Patil and Rajesh Ketkar pronounced its judgment on a bunch of
petitions filed by real estate developers and individual plot owners, all
challenging the constitutional validity of the Act .It was held-
“RERA is not a law relating to only regulatory
control the promoters (developers), but its objective is to develop the real
estate sector, particularly the incomplete projects across the country. It is
also crucial to protect the interest of flat buyers across the country,”
.Justice Patil opined
“The problems are enormous. It’s time to take a step
forward to fulfill dreams of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, to wipe
every tear from every eye”
The authorities must also closely monitor the
implementation of the Act.the bench said while the bench concurred with the
state and the Union government's arguments.
"We are conscious of the fact that the actual
implementation of RERA needs to be closely monitored in the years to
come," the bench opined.
On the point of composition of the state
–level Authority, HC did not interfere with but it ruled that the tribunal must
be headed by a judicial officer and not a bureaucrat, or a member of the Indian
legal services, and that majority of the members of such tribunal must be
officers or members of the judiciary.
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