Association for Consumer Welfare and Aid vs Granite Gate Properties Private Limited & Anr.

Court

Supreme Court of India

Date

25 March 2019

Case No.

Civil Appeal No. 259 of 2019

Result

Disposed

Bench

D.Y. Chandrachud, Hemant Gupta

Citation

[2019] 5 S.C.R. 897 : 2019 INSC 397

Headnote

Party: Deletion of name from array of parties – In the instant case, the appellant-Association representing the buyers filed consumer complaint seeking diverse reliefs including the grant of possession of flats to the allottees of the real estate project and restraining the respondents from charging additional amount for alleged increase in the area of the flats otherwise than in accordance with the allotment letters – The case of the appellant before the National Commission was that the second respondent was in fact the main promoter of the project and that it was vested with the primary responsibility of completing the project – In the complaint, the second respondent was arrayed as opposite party No. 1, while the first respondent was opposite party No. 2 – National Commission directed deletion of second respondent from array of parties and admitted complaint only against the first respondent on the ground that the consumers in the complaint did not hire or avail the services of the said party and therefore were not its consumers – Whether a direction for the deletion of the second respondent was warranted – In the counter affidavit which was filed in these proceedings, the second respondent stated that the first respondent was set up as a special purpose vehicle by a consortium of which the second respondent was a part and that a construction agreement was entered into between the first and second respondents – Held: It is not possible for the Court to conclude at this stage that the second respondent was unconnected with the project or was impleaded as a party to the proceeding without any reason or basis – The issue as to whether, and if so, what relief can be ultimately granted in the consumer complaint is a matter which has to be determined during the course of the hearing of the complaint – Consequently, on the basis of the averments contained in the complaint as well as on the material placed on the record by the second respondent, an order for deletion was not warranted at this stage – The second respondent is restored as a party to the proceedings before the National Commission – Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Disposing of the appeals, the Court

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DR. DHANANJAYA Y. CHANDRACHUD, J. Civil Appeal No. 259 of 2019 1. Admitted. 2, By the impugned order dated 31 July 2018, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission1 directed that the second respondent (Three C Universal Developers Private Limited) be deleted from the array of parties. The complaint has been admitted only against Granite Gate Properties Private Limited, the first respondent to the present appeal. PROPERTIES PVT. LTD. [DR. DHANANJAYA Y. CHANDRACHUD, J.] 3. The only ground on which the above directions have been issued are

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