The Bombay High Court has held that it is mandatory for promoters to fully disclose their construction plans in a sanctioned layout plan to flat owners and take their consent in case any additional construction is to be done. Justice SC Gupte was hearing a second appeal against a judgment of a district court in Thane. The second appeal was filed by one Vitthal Patil, after the district court confirmed another judgment passed by a civil court in Thane wherein Patil's suit was dismissed.
In October 2009, the appellant and others noted some activities suggesting a proposed construction of an additional building, i.e., Building No.16, on the suit property. Once the appellant objected to the said additional construction, the concerned planning authority rejected the proposal for additional construction. Thereafter, a fresh proposal was submitted wherein the space proposed to be a recreational ground (RG) was said to be replaced by the building in question. Hence the appellant filed a suit objecting to the said proposal.
The court further noted: "What is material is that the purchaser agreed to purchase the flat on the basis of the promoter's disclosures. These were: there would be 15 buildings in the proposed layout (may be with the possibility of an additional construction by use of FSI/TDR); and there would be large recreational spaces (RG Nos.1 and 2) located at the places indicated in the layout. On these disclosures, the purchaser thought it worth his while to purchase the flat. If that is so, considering the duty of disclosure which includes duty to conform to such disclosure on the part of the promoter, the question to be considered was whether the purchaser could now be told that the open recreational space of RG No.2 would be constructed upon and there would be 4 RGs at 4 different locations." "A developer cannot disclose one or the other buildings or areas for additional construction and then construct it somewhere else. He must keep to his disclosure," Justice Gupte observed.
Courtesy/By: Sakshi Shukla
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05 Feb 2019
