Hemant Gupta JUDGMENT
Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, J.
Civil Appeal No. 259 of 2019
1. Admitted.
2. By the impugned order dated 31 July 2018, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission1 directed that the second Respondent (Three C Universal Developers Private Limited) be deleted from the array of parties. The complaint has been admitted only against Granite Gate Properties Private Limited, the first Respondent to the present appeal.
3. The only ground on which the above directions have been issued are spelt out thus:
The consumers on whose behalf this complaint is instituted did not hire or avail the services of opposite party No. 1 and therefore, they cannot be said to its consumers.
4. Notice was issued in these proceedings on 7 January 2019. A counter affidavit has been filed by the second Respondent which was ordered to be deleted by the NCDRC from the array of parties.
5. The consumer complaint filed by the Appellant, which is an association representing the buyers, seeks diverse reliefs including the grant of possession of flats to the allottees of the real estate project together with common amenities and restraining the Respondents from charging additional amounts for alleged increases in the area of the flats otherwise than in accordance with the allotment letters. The averments in paragraphs 5 and 13 of the complaint before the NCDRC read as follows:
5. That the Allotment Letters clearly provide that the projects are being undertaken by Opposite Part 2 (which is formed by Opposite Party 1 specifically for the purpose of construction of Lotus Panache). The entire consideration amount for the project was required to be paid to Opposite Party 2 by the allottees, although the project was marketed by Opposite Party 1 and the parties marketed themselves as "The 3C Company" which is also evident from the letterhead of the Company on which the Allotment Letters were printed."
13. The Companies registered project Lotus Panache under Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority and M/s. Granite Gate Properties Pvt. Ltd. was declared by the Companies as the Promoter of the project. However clearly as per the agreement, Three C Universal Developers Private Limited was the main company as it has formed the SPC (which was formed specifically for development of the project Lotus Panache and was the one which was marketing and executing the agreements), therefore having been vested the primary responsibility of the entire project together with all the other opposite parties who also are jointly and severally responsible for all the obligations contained herein.
Further, the details of Project Lotus Panache as obtained from the website of Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulation Authority clearly shows the proposed date of completion of the project as 31.12.2022. Surprisingly, the original start date has been specified as 11.5.2010 and the modified start date for the project has been specified as 10.8.2017.
6. In sum and substance therefore, the case of the Appellants before the NCDRC is that the second Respondent, Three C Universal Developers Private Limited, is in fact........