In an important order which is likely to benefit lakhs of property buyers in the Capital, a Delhi court has asked a builder to hand over a plot of land to two customers without realising the extra payment demanded from them and which was not mentioned in the original agreement.
“Unless these hidden charges/extra charges form an essential part of the contract within the knowledge of the customer/purchaser, the builder cannot charge the same without offering any justification for the same,” Additional District Judge Kamini Lau said while directing TDI Infrastructure to hand over 500 square yards of plot in TDI City at Kundli in Haryana’s Sonipat to the buyers, Rajesh Mittal and Manoj Mittal, within 60 days of the decree.
“Of late, there has been a spurt in litigations where the prospective house owners have been compelled to rush to the court of law while trying to grapple with the incorrigible attitude of the builder whose sole intention is to make money at any costs even if it involves cheating or duping gullible innocent customers,’’ the Judge said in her stinging remarks on the sate of affairs in the real estate sector.
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“In fact, any builder who delays handing over the plots/buildings to the buyers on one pretext or the other by creating artificial claims… can be made liable to pay damages for all the financial loss and physical inconvenience caused to the purchasers of the property,’’ the Judge further observed.
The order came on a suit by the two buyers, who are brothers.