The High Court of Karnataka on Friday ordered issue notice to the State government on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition complaining that apartment owners have been put to severe hardship owing to non-implementation of the Karnataka Apartment Owners Association (KAOA) Act, 1972, even 47 years after it came into force.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order on a petition filed by Abhilash N., a resident of Thyagarajnagar.
Though the Act came into force in July 1973, none of its benefit reached apartment buyers or owners sans its implementation, the petitioner said.
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“The apartment owners are unable to register their association to fulfil their purpose of maintenance, administer, carry out day-to-day activities relating to all aspect of building apartments, common areas, common facilities, and common services without getting registration by the owners,” the petitioner contended while pointing out that none of the benefits offered by the law is available to apartment owners owing to the government’s failure to implement it.
Noticing that the government had not framed rules for implementation of the Act, the Bench asked the government whether an Act can be effectively implemented if the government failed to exercise its rule-making powers.