A project completed before the commencement of the Real Estate Act is not subject to the Act's registration requirements, regardless of later safety certificate issues.

JUDGMENT :

R.K. PATTANAIK, J.

1. Both the appeals are clubbed together for hearing and disposed of by the following common judgment.

2. M.S.A. No.44 of 2024: Instant appeal under Section 58 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) is at the behest of the appellant assailing the legality and judicial propriety of the impugned order dated 27^th September, 2024 passed in connection with OREAT Appeal No.96 of 2023 as at Annexure-1 confirmed in Review Petition No.15 of 2023 by order dated 13^th November, 2024 by the learned Odisha Real Estate Appellate Tribunal at Bhubaneswar (hence called as ‘the OREAT’) on the ground inter alia that the decision vis-à-vis the concerned project in question holding the same to be an ongoing one despite issuance of Completion Certification prior to the commencement of the Act with effect from 1^st May, 2017 is erroneous and hence, liable to be interfered with and set at naught.

3. M.S.A. No.45 of 2024: Present appeal is at the instance of the appellant challenging the impugned order dated 27^th September, 2024 at Annexure-1 passed in OREAT Appeal No.97 of 2023 by the learned OREAT and thereafter, confirmed in Review Petition No.16 of 2024 by order dated 13^th November, 2024 on the self-same ground as in the other appeal with the plea that such decision is culpably wrong and hence, deserves to be set aside in the interest of justice.

4. In both the cases, the learned OREAT considering the complaints received from the private respondents held that the action is maintainable, since, the project is an ongoing project in spite of the fact that the same is shown to have been completed prior to the commencement of the Act. Bereft of unnecessary details, the facts of the case are that the private respondents are the allottees, whereas, the appellant is promoter and the complaints were filed against the latter registered as Complaint Case Nos. 23 and 55 of 2019 received by the learned Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) under Section 31 of the Act and therein, the maintainability was challenged, which was raised on the ground that the project had been completed prior to the commencement of the Act, inasmuch as, it had received completion certificate prior to 1^st May, 2017 and therefore, in terms of Proviso to Section 3 (2) of the Act, the same was not required to be registered under the Act. The learned ORERA rejected such a plea of the appellant by orders dated 28^th December, 2021 with a conclusion that the complaints are in support of an ongoing project, though, completion certificates has been issued by the competent authority on 17^th March, 2015 and since BDA issued a revised plan on 5^th November, 2019 and the earlier plain having been modified and no fresh completion certificate was issued by the empaneled Architect relating to the completion as per such revised plan dated 5^th November, 2019, the construction in respect of the project had not been completed. By separate orders at Annexure-1, the learned ORERA disposed of the objection of the appellant concluding that the complaints are entertainable. Both the orders dated 28^th December, 2021 of the learned ORERA were challenged in OREAT Appeal Nos.16 and 15 of 2022 respectively and the learned OREAT by orders dated 13^th February, 2023 as at Annexure-1 remitted the matter back with a direction to the learned ORERA to consider the question of maintainability afresh providing opportunity of hearing to both the sides taking into account the report o