Jabalpur, February 14 – In a ruling that clarifies the procedural pathways under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur has directed a homebuyer to approach the appropriate forum to enforce a delayed possession order against a builder.
A bench of Justice Vishal Mishra, while hearing the Writ Petition, disposed of the case on Thursday, emphasizing the principle of merger in appellate orders.
The dispute originated from a complaint by homebuyer GP Gupta to the Madhya Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) against the builder, who had neither completed the flat on time nor paid contractual interest.
RERA initially ordered possession within three months and referred the matter to an adjudicating officer, who favored the complainant.
Further appeals followed, culminating in the Appellate Tribunal's directive on November 19, 2020: "The builder was directed to deliver possession within two months and to pay interest at the rate of 9 per cent on Rs 40 lakh until possession."
Despite execution proceedings at RERA, compliance lagged, prompting the complainant's High Court plea for a mandamus to enforce the Tribunal's order dated 19.11.2020, or alternatively, a reasoned decision on his representations.
Respondents, including RERA and the builder, contested the maintainability of the case. They invoked Section 57 of the RERA Act, which states: "Every order made by the Appellate Tribunal under this Act shall be executable by the Appellate Tribunal as a decree of a civil court, and for this purpose, the Appellate Tribunal shall have all the powers of a civil court."
The court concurred, noting that Gupta had "approached the wrong forum – the RERA authority" for execution.
Justice Mishra observed, "The fact remains that the original order has merged into the appellate order. It is for the Appellate Tribunal to consider the application filed by the petitioner for the execution of the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal."
He added, "Under these circumstances, no direction can be issued to the RERA authority to expedite the proceedings of the execution of the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal."
Granting liberty, the court said, "However, the petitioner is at liberty to approach the MP Real Estate Appellate Tribunal seeking execution of the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal in accordance with law."
Gupta, appearing in person, committed to filing within 15 days, requesting a time-bound decision.
With no objections from the respondents, the court directed, "If such an application is filed, the Appellate Tribunal is directed to consider and decide the same in accordance with law within a period of 90 days thereafter."
This judgment may guide similar cases, reinforcing that appellate orders supersede original orders under RERA, potentially streamlining enforcement for homebuyers facing builder non-compliance.