IMPORTANT POINT
Not giving possession even after accepting the entire amount is “deficiency in service”.

V.K. Jain, Presiding Member—The complainants booked a residential flat with the OP in a project namely “Up Country” which the OP was to develop in Plot No.TS-1 in Sector-17A, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Area. Vide allotment letter dated 20.02.2015, villa no. 124 in Block S-6 of the said project was allotted to them for a total consideration of Rs.96,86,575/- exclusive of service tax. As per clause 1 of the said allotment letter, the possession was to be delivered to the complainants by March 2015 though a grace period of six months was also available to the OP which could be invoked in case the possession was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. The grievance of the complainants is that the possession has not even been offered to them despite they having already paid Rs.1,00,42,955/- to the OP. The complainants are therefore, before this Commission seeking refund of the aforesaid amount.

2. The complaint has been resisted by the OP primarily on the grounds that:—

(i) The land on which the apartments were to be constructed was acquired by Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (hereinafter referred to as “YEIDA”) and allotted to the OP but the acquisition was challenged by the land owners by way of Writ Petitions filed in Allahabad High Court and the farmers whose land had been acquired did not allow the construction to progress.

(ii) National Green Tribunal had prohibited the use of ground water for construction purposes.

(iii) The supply of raw material and labour etc. was totally disrupted due to strikes/agitation at the site and nearby vicinity of the project by the farmers whose lands were acquired by Noida/Greater Noida Authority.

3. All these grounds were recently considered and rejected by this Commission vide its order dated 16.04.2019 in CC No.2335 of 2017 STUC Awasiya Grahak Kalyaan Association Vs. Supertech Ltd., which is related to the allotments made in this very project.

4. The decision of this Commission in CC No.2335 of 2017, to the extent it is relevant, reads as under:—

5. As far as the prohibition on use of the ground water for construction purposes is concerned, the OP has relied upon the order dated 11.1.2013 passed by National Green Tribunal. A perusal of the said order would show that the NGT had restrained the builders in Noida and Greater Noida from extracting groundwater for the purpose of construction, till the next date of hearing before it. The matter was then adjourned by NGT to 24.1.2013. The subsequent orders passed by the NGT have not been filed by the OP. Therefore, it cannot be known whether the said interim order dated January 11, 2013 was extended and if so, till which date the injunction against extraction of ground water in Noida and Greater Noida for construction purposes remained in force. Moreover, the plot on which the construction was to be raised by the OP does not fall either in Noida or in Greater Noida. The said plot falls in Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Area, which is ahead of Greater Noida. No order of the NGT, restraining builders of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Area from extracting ground water for construction purposes has been placed on record.

In case, there was an order restraining the OP from extracting ground water for construction purposes, it was for the OP to arrange water for construction purposes from alternative sources and the flat buyers cannot be made to suffer on account of such an order, if any.

6. As far as challenge to the acquisition of land is concerned, even according to the OP, the writ petition filed by the farmers in Allahabad High Court came to be decided on 21.10.2011. Though, Civil Appeals were later filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, which eventually upheld the order passed by Allahabad High Court, admittedly, no order was passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court at any point of time, restraining the builders, particularly the builders in YEIDA from raising construction on the