11-year delay in construction: Aliens Developers asked to pay Rs 2.5 lakh compensation

HYDERABAD: The Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Aliens Developers to pay a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh for a delay of eleven and a half years in construction, causing mental anguish to its buyers.

Heku Writer (57), a resident of Dedar, Mumbai, signed a construction deal with Aliens Developers on June 10, 2009, and purchased a flat on the 12th floor of Ms Aliens Space Station.

The property provides a super-built-up area of 1,122 square feet, a covered parking space and an undivided land area of 28.9 square yards out of a total land area of 8,2976.89 square yards in survey Nos. 384 and 385 in Tellapur Village of Ramchandrapuram Mandal in Medak district.

Heku Writer claimed in his complaint that there was no response from the Aliens Developers over the phone or via email regarding the progress of the construction of the apartment under sale in any form. The complainant noticed the construction was on hold when he visited the project site in December 2018.

He also claimed that Aliens Developers never informed the complainant about the stages of construction and did not complete the construction of the flat. The complainant issued a legal notice to them on May 28, 2009, and despite receipt of the same, the builders failed to respond.

The developers failed to complete construction of the flat and were unable to provide the Keku Writer possession of it as per the deadline, causing him mental anguish. He approached the consumer court for relief due to a deficiency of service on the part of the builders.

The builders responded in writing, disputing all of the charges in the complaint. They claimed that he did not approach the commission with clean hands and that he never sought for a refund of money or a termination of the agreement, so he could not claim a lack of service on the part of the builders.

The builders also claimed that the buyer got into the construction agreement on June 6, 2009, and that the deadline constraints for filing a complaint ended in June 2011, which included the grace period specified in the agreement. The builders claimed that the complaint was invalid since the buyer filed it after the grace period had expired.

Aliens builders also claimed that they fought for the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land and that after the foundation of Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA), they must acquire authorization from the agricultural zone to residential and commercial zones and also with regard to the projects conforming to the master plan, obtaining a no objection certificate from the Fire Service Department and other aspects. Citing article 14, they claimed that they could not be held liable for project delays.

They also claimed that the complainant's reliefs were not maintainable and he was not entitled to seek a direction against the builders to complete the said flat as per the agreed specifications and deliver possession of the same forthwith and at the same cost as agreed in the agreement and for a fair rent of Rs 10 per Sq.ft of super built up area per month from December 1, 2009 until handover of the flat and also to the compliant.

The court noted that the builders promised to deliver the flat by June 2011 but they did not deliver until 2023, forcing the buyer to wait for 11 years, which is an extremely long time, and no one, including the complainant, should be expected to wait for such a long time after paying the entire sale consideration. The court came to the conclusion that Heku Writer was entitled to fair compensation for the unjustifiable delay.

The court also said that, due to the unnecessary delay, they believed that Heku Writer was entitled to delivery of the flat upon its construction, in accordance with the terms of the construction agreement, as well as compensation and costs.

The court ordered Aliens Developers to complete the flat according to agreed-upon specifications and deliver possession at the quoted price within two months of the date of this ruling.

The court further ordered them to pay Rs 2,00,000 as compensation for the eleven-and-a-half year delay in completing the construction and delivering the property, as well as for the mental agony. The court also ordered that Rs 25,000 be paid towards legal costs.