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,(2018)
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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