Because he subsequently accepted the flat, the Allahabad High Court has held, lucknow, A homebuyer does not lose the statutory right to claim interest for delay in getting possession merely.
The buyer, Shyam Sunder Agrawal, had booked a flat in the project in 2010, with possession due by November 2012. However, the developer offered possession only in May 2017 and, according to the court, did so without the occupancy certificate and other necessary documents. The Lucknow bench of the court also observed on Wednesday that the Real Estate Act does not prescribe any specific limitation period for claiming interest on account of delayed possession.
The high court rejected the contention, noting that the developer’s own case was that the project had been completed in 2014 and an application for the occupancy certificate had also been made that year. The court further noted that the NGT restriction came into effect in August 2013, whereas the contractual deadline for handing over possession was November 2012. The court accordingly upheld the direction to pay interest for the delayed period and dismissed the developer’s appeal.
It could not, therefore, simultaneously claim that the project was complete and that its completion had been prevented by the NGT restraint.
The developer’s default had thus already occurred before the restriction came into force, according to the order. The bench observed that the benefit of the “zero period” recognised by the Supreme Court could extend only to the period during which the project was actually affected by the restraint and could not wipe out the delay that had occurred before the NGT order.
