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Vikrant Singh Malik and Others v. Supertech Limited and Others

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 504Decided 24 Aug 2020
Civil Appeal No. 3526 of 2016
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice K.M. Joseph

Background

Twenty-six flat buyers in a Greater Noida residential project ("Oxford Square") jointly filed a consumer complaint against the builder, Supertech Ltd., seeking relief over delayed possession, illegal charges, and a refund, using the representative-complaint route under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) dismissed the complaint as not maintainable, reasoning that the buyers' individual flats, agreement dates, prices and claimed compensation amounts were all different, so they lacked "the same interest" required for a joint complaint, though it gave them liberty to file individually. This ruling predated a later, more buyer-friendly NCDRC Full Bench decision (Ambrish Kumar Shukla) clarifying that such differences don't defeat a joint complaint so long as the grievance and relief sought are common.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed that the specific application filed by these 26 buyers did not meet the technical requirements of Section 12(1)(c), because the complaint's own pleadings and prayers were tailored to the 26 individual complainants rather than framed as being "for the benefit of" all similarly-placed buyers. However, since the NCDRC's reasoning had not had the benefit of the later Ambrish Kumar Shukla ruling (that differences in flat size, price or agreement date don't defeat commonality of interest), the Court set aside the NCDRC's wholesale dismissal and restored the complaint for fresh consideration, leaving it open to the NCDRC to decide whether some or all of the buyers' prayers could still qualify as a representative class complaint, and to consider the builder's objections that many buyers had since settled.

Lesson Learnt

A joint/class consumer complaint by multiple flat buyers must be pleaded and prayed for explicitly as being "on behalf of or for the benefit of" all similarly situated buyers sharing a common grievance: technical differences in individual purchase price, date or size do not by themselves defeat a class complaint, but the complaint's own drafting must reflect its representative character.

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

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