Supreme Court Impleads 17 State and Civic Authorities In DLF Primus-Homebuyer Dispute Over Civic Amenities

The Supreme Court on January 15 allowed the impleadment of 17 government and regulatory bodies in a batch of civil appeals linked to DLF's Primus housing project in Gurgaon.

The court said authorities responsible for roads, electricity, water supply, and other basic amenities must be part of the proceedings.

A Bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice R. Mahadevan allowed the homebuyer's plea to add the authorities as party respondents.

“We allow the prayer for impleading all the 17 authorities/bodies as party respondents,” the court said. The newly added authorities have been asked to place on record the steps taken by them so far.

The appeals arise from a complaint filed by a homebuyer who booked a flat in DLF's project 'The Primus DLF Garden City' in 2012. An apartment buyer's agreement was signed in December that year. In 2017, the buyer approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission alleging deficiency in service and unfair trade practices.

In its order dated May 29, 2023, the consumer commission partly allowed the complaint. It found that DLF's brochure showed two 24-meter-wide sector roads as approach roads to the project. Neither of them was a sector road. One of the roads shown as public access was private land owned by farmers. The commission held that this amounted to an unfair trade practice.

While noting that the buyer was contractually required to take possession after an occupation certificate was issued, the commission directed the builder to ensure construction of both approach roads within six months. It also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh per month in case of non-compliance, along with costs of Rs 2 lakh.

The homebuyer later challenged the order before the Supreme Court. It was argued that despite completion certificates being issued, the project still lacked an independent water supply. It was also contended that the access road described as a sector road in the brochure was never acquired.

On January 9, the Supreme Court said all authorities required to act on issues relating to electricity, roads, and water supply must be brought before it. The court also directed DLF Home Developers Limited to deposit the entire amount payable under the consumer commission's order in the registry of the court within two weeks.

The matter will be heard further in February.

For Appellants: Senior Advocate Senthil Jagadeesan, Advocate Suriti Chowdhary, Advocate-on-Record Abiha Zaidi, Advocate Pritam Raman Giriya, Advocate Punit Manoj Agarwwal, Advocate Arushi, Advocate Tanya Sharma.

For Respondent (DLF Home Developers Limited): Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, Advocate Ruby Singh Ahuja, Advocate Seema Sundd, Advocate Pravin Bahadur, Advocate Amit Agarwal, Advocate Jappanpreet Hora, Advocate Aditya P.N. Singh, Advocate Megha Dugar, Advocate Snehil Srivastava.