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CCI Projects (P) Ltd. v. Vrajendra Jogjivandas Thakkar

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 1108Decided 27 Nov 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 6784-6785 of 2018
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice R. Subhash Reddy

Background

Two linked flat-buyers in a Mumbai housing project had been promised possession by August 2014 under agreements that allowed automatic extensions for specified delay events, but possession was only offered in November 2016. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission awarded the buyers 8% annual interest as compensation for the delay (after rejecting the builder's excuses about a delayed fire-safety NOC and a sand-mining restriction), along with a partial refund of disputed charges and litigation costs, and the builder appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the builder was entitled to only a 6-month extension (for the genuine NOC-related delay) rather than the full period claimed, and found the sand-shortage argument only partly persuasive since there was no outright mining ban. It rejected the builder's separate argument that the complaints were not maintainable because the flats had changed hands, distinguishing an earlier precedent since here the transfers happened within the same family, unlike transfers to unrelated strangers. Weighing the facts, the Court modified the Commission's order by replacing the ongoing 8% interest compensation with a one-time lump sum of Rs. 5 lakh per flat, while keeping the Commission's other directions (refund of balance deposit and litigation costs) intact, to be paid within two months.

Lesson Learnt

A builder cannot avoid liability for delayed possession merely by pointing to permit delays or raw-material shortages unless those genuinely and fully explain the delay period, and a consumer's claim does not automatically fail just because the flat was transferred to a family member during the dispute.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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