Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has clarified that the authorities and tribunals under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) cannot decide title disputes between flat buyers or grant declaratory and injunctive reliefs. Such powers, the court said, lie exclusively with civil courts.
Justice NJ Jamadar delivered the ruling while dismissing a revision plea filed by Sana Hospitality Services Pvt Ltd, which had challenged a Belapur Civil Court order refusing to reject a plaint under Order VII Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code. In a detailed order dated November 25 (made available late Monday night), Justice Jamadar noted that although the RERA Appellate Tribunal can execute its own orders as if they were civil court decrees, this does not make it a civil court.
The dispute relates to Flat No. 1703 in the Green World project at Belapur. Sana Hospitality purchased the flat through a registered sale deed in 2016 from Mount Mary Builders. As there was delay in handing over possession, Sana secured an Appellate Tribunal order directing the promoter to hand over possession. However, a title search showed that the promoter had subsequently entered into a 2017 agreement with Madan Kishan Gurow and others for the same flat.
They paid the consideration, obtained a home loan, and took possession in 2019. Gurow and the other purchasers filed a civil suit. Sana argued that Section 79 of RERA barred the civil suit and that the dispute – being between two sets of allottees – should be decided by RERA authorities. It also claimed that the Appellate Tribunal’s execution powers were broad enough to decide possession rights.
Gurow and others countered that their claims required declarations on title, which RERA bodies cannot issue. The HC rejected Sana’s arguments, reiterating that civil courts retain broad jurisdiction unless clearly excluded.
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