The Bombay High Court on Tuesday continued to hear petitions challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act. “Hearing of seven out of nine petitioners are finished. On Wednesday, most likely it will be Union of India’s turn to make the submissions then us after that the court will hear what the Amicus Curae has to say,” Abhay Upadhyay national convenor of Fight For RERA and president of Forum for People’s Collective Efforts said. Pan-India home buyers’ pressure group Fight For RERA has formed a non-profit company called FPCE which is representing the buyers in the cases pertaining to RERA in the Bombay High Court.
On Monday, a bench of justices Naresh Patil and Rajesh Ketkar started hearing the matter on a daily basis. The court has appointed renowned lawyer Darius Khambata as the Amicus Curae. Developers, including DB Realty, MIG (Bandra) Realtors and Builders, along with several individual landowners had moved the court. The petitioners have questioned, among other things, the provisions that mandate that all ongoing projects be registered with the authority set up under the new Act, and provide stringent penal action to ensure that projects are completed within fixed time.
They have also challenged the provision which says that a plot owner who sells the plot to builder will be considered a co-promoter of the project when it comes to fixing the liability. The petitions claimed that the Act, and the constitution of a state-level authority for its implementation, were arbitrary, and therefore unconstitutional, Upadhyay said. The Central legislation, RERA, to bring “transparency and efficiency” in real estate, drew challenges across states, with builders petitioning courts in Nagpur, MP and elsewhere. Dismissing a transfer plea filed by the Centre, the SC in September entrusted Bombay HC to be the first to decide on RERA.