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Informist, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected a petitioner's demand for the re-scrutiny of all registration certificates issued by the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority across the state after observing that it was "a broad, speculative enquiry into the integrity of all real estate project registrations across the state". The court said that established legal principles dictate that a petitioner must present prima facie evidence substantiating claims of forgery or fraud specific to identified projects. 

 

To mandate such re-scrutiny in the absence of concrete, specific instances of alleged forgery would not only overreach judicial authority but also risk encumbering regulatory bodies with speculative investigations that lack substantive grounding, said the court. Consequently, the petitioner must provide factual material related to specific projects to substantiate such claims and avoid a sweeping and unsubstantiated mandate for statewide re-scrutiny, the court added. "Accordingly, without substantive material to substantiate allegations of widespread forgery or fraud, this Court is not inclined to grant the petitioner's request for a generalised scrutiny across Maharashtra's RERA registrations," said the court.

 

The high court was hearing a public interest litigation by Sandeep Pandurang Patil, an architect, seeking to enforce statutory compliance and establish accountability among the state of Maharashtra, Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority and local planning authorities. The petitioner had sought the court's intervention to direct Maharashtra government, real estate authority and other parties to adopt a rational policy framework to prevent registration of illegal buildings and to verify the authenticity of documentation submitted for project registration. The lack of coordination between real estate authority and local authorities contravenes the fundamental objectives of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, particularly the protection of home buyers from fraudulent real estate practices, said the petitioner.

 

Tuesday, the high court said that the statutory framework of the 2016 Act provided sufficient remedies for affected parties to initiate proceedings for redressal upon submission of credible material indicating the use of forged certificates. 

 

However, with a view to safeguard the interests of homebuyers and ensure transparency in real estate project registrations, the court issued certain directions. The court asked the state government to ensure rigorous compliance with its resolution that mandated standardised procedures for the issuance and publication of commencement and occupation certificates. Compliance shall be monitored periodically to uphold the integrity of project documentation, said the court.

 

The court directed all municipal corporations, municipalities, and urban local authorities in Maharashtra to link their respective websites with the real estate authority portal within three months from the date of the judgement. Such integration is imperative for establishing a streamlined process for verifying the authenticity of certificates submitted in real estate registrations, as envisaged under Section 4 of the 2016 Act, said the court. Until full integration is achieved, all bodies must ensure that commencement and occupation certificates are uploaded on their respective websites within 48 hours of issuance, to maintain interim transparency and public access, the court added.

 

Effective from Jun. 19, 2023, Maharashtra's real estate authority will verify the authenticity of all commencement certificates submitted by promoters during project registration, said the court. Only upon verification should registration be granted, the court added. The state government shall complete the integration of the Building Plan Management System with real estate authority's online system within three months from the date of the judgement, said the court. The integration will enable Maharashtra real estate authority to cross-verify certificates against records in the building plan system, mitigating the risk of fraudulent submissions and enhancing regulatory oversight, said the court.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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