Allotment – Allotment of flat – Determination of the amount due and payable – Allotment of flat by the appellant-developer to the respondent-buyer – Non-payment of the balance amount – Cancellation of the allotment by the developer – Thereagainst, complaint by the buyer – Despite order of the National Commission, the appellant created third-party rights with respect to the said apartment, and alienated the said apartment – National Commission set aside the cancellation order of allotment – Appellant then applied for modification of the order passed by the National Commission to the extent that an identical apartment may be substituted in place of apartment allotted to the respondent – Rejection of the application for modification since the appellant was in contempt – In appeal, this Court held that the application for modification ought to have been allowed by the National Commission as no contempt petition had been filed; and that whatever amount was payable for the original apartment, the same would be payable for the alternate apartment offered – However, the said order not implemented – Appellant then filed Miscellaneous Application for directions to the respondent to comply with the order passed by this Court or, in the alternative, to allow the appellant to refund the entire amount paid by the respondent towards the booking of the original apartment along with interest:
Held: Appellant has not provided the relevant documents asked by the respondent relating to the building map, carpet area, relevant NOCs right from the beginning – Appellant, being well aware of the stay order passed by the National Commission, proceeded to alienate the original allotted apartment in gross violation of the same – This alienation created further complication in the proceedings and also caused considerable delay in the matter – Even after the orders passed by this Court, the appellant did not come forward with the specific carpet area of the original allotted apartment and the alternate offered apartment – Respondent could not enjoy the possession of the apartment but the fact also remains that the balance consideration remained with the respondent – During this period, the appellant has been maintaining the said apartment and paying the essential charges to respective bodies/associations – As such, there needs to be some adjustment of equities between the parties – In order to do complete justice between the parties, the respondent directed to pay the total amount of Rs. 1,40,71,000/- to the appellant within the stipulated period – Said amount is in lieu of clearance of all the outstanding dues of interest/taxes and other charges upon the respondent up to the date on which possession was handed over to the respondent. [Paras 12-14]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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