1. THIS complaint has been filed by the complainant against the opposite party who represented himself to be a property dealer and a builder. It is the case of the complainants that they are devotees of Sri Satya Sai Baba and visited Puttaparthi where Shri Satya Sai Baba has his Ashram. It is, however, alleged that the opposite party approached the complainants and represented that he owned a piece of land opposite to Hanuman Temple and stated that he would develop the property and built flats for the complainants on the said property. Initially the rate mentioned was Rs. 8,000/- per sq. foot in 1995 and thereafter in 1998 he escalated the rate almost double the amount. The complainants entered into three agreements with the opposite party namely, (i) agreement of sale of undivided interest in land, (ii) agreement of sale and purchase of flat, and (iii) agreement for construction of flats.
2. EACH of the complainants executed these agreements with the opposite party apart from that the opposite party also obtained from each of the complainants Special Power of Attorney to construct the apartment and after construction, to register and execute the sale deed in their favour as well as to apply for the permission from the RBI to acquire immovable property in India. The complainants paid the entire consideration for the flats as has been set up here by remitting payments into the opposite party''s Bank Account with Deutsche, Raheja Chamber, MG Road, Bangalore.
All the dates and amount paid by each of the complainant is as under : Complainant No. 1 : Entered into agreements on 14.1.1995 for a 2 bedroom apartment measuring 929.60 sq. ft. The full consideration of Rs. 5 lakh was paid. Delivery of the flat was due on 1.1.1996. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of four years. Complainant No. 2 : Entered into agreements on 24.1.1996 for a 2 bedroom apartment measuring 929.60 sq. ft. The full consideration of Rs. 12.74 lakh was paid. Delivery of the flat was due on 1.1.1997. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of three years. Complainant No. 3 : Entered into agreements on 14.1.1995 for a 1 bedroom apartment measuring 659.34 sq. ft. The full consideration of Rs. 7.25 lakh was paid. Delivery of the flat was due on 1.1.1996. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of four years. Complainant No. 4 : Entered into agreement on 4.12.1995 for a studio apartment measuring 545 sq. ft. The full consideration of Rs. 6.71 lakhs was paid. Delivery of the flat was due on 1.6.1996. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of four years. Complainant No. 5 : Entered into agreement on 24.1.1996 for a 3 bedroom apartment measuring 1280 sq. ft. The full amount of Rs. 17 lakh was paid. Delivery was due on 1.1.1997. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of two and half years. Complainant No. 6 : Entered into agreement on 21.1.1996, for a 3 bedroom apartment measuring 1280 sq. ft. The full consideration of Rs. 17 lakhs was paid. Delivery of the flat was due on 1.6.1996. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of three and a half years. Complainant No. 7 : Entered into agreement on 22.2.1996 for a 1 bedroom apartment measuring 659.43 sq. ft. The full consideration of Rs. 8 lakh was paid. Delivery of the flat was due on 1.11.1996. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of three years. Complainant No. 8 : Entered into agreement on 15.9.1995 for a two bedroom flat. The full amount of Rs. 8 lakh was paid. Delivery of the flat was due in November, 1996. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of four years. Complainant No. 9 : Entered into agreement on 23.7.1996 for a 1 bedroom apartment measuring 695 sq. ft. The full consideration on Rs. 7.75 lakh was paid. Delivery of the flat was due on 1.8.1997. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of two and a half years. Complainant No. 10 : Entered into agreement on 14.1.1995 for a 2 bedroom apartment measuring 929.60 sq. ft. The full consideration of Rs. 10.5 lakh was paid. Delivery of the flat was due in November, 1995. The opposite party has delayed for a further period of four years.
Despite full payment having been made, the opposite party has not got to complete the construction and the premises are only half finished. Despite repeated approaches made both directly or through the local police, the opposite party has neither refunded the amount to the complainants nor completed the construction. Notice of the complaint was issued but the opposite party not entered appearance to defend itself. In these circumstances, we proceeded ex parte against him and evidence was led by the complainant as his own as well as on behalf of other complainants where the documents mentioned above were proved and the payments were also proved on affidavits. The above facts have been duly proved. We, in the light of these facts are of the view that there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party and since the complainant had stated that the premises are not habitable they cannot live in it and it will be in the interest of justice to order refund of the amount received by the opposite party to complainants. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the opposite party to refund to each of the complainants the amounts received with interest @ 18% per annum from the date on which amount was received by the opposite party till the date of payment. Opposite party will also be liable to pay cost which we quantify at Rs. 10,000/-. This O.P. is accordingly disposed of. O.P. disposed of accordingly.
