With a sharp reprimand, the Supreme Court today ordered real estate developer Unitech to pay Rs 2 crore more to complete the refund of money to 39 flat buyers in a Gurgaon housing project.
"The builder can't take refuge under the metaphor that Rome was not built in a day," the Supreme Court said as it instructed Unitech to add Rs 2 crore within four weeks to the Rs 15 crore it had already deposited with the court's registry after an August order to refund the buyers.
The Rs 17 crore will cover the buyers for the principal amount they gave Unitech for the flats in its Vistas project in Gurgaon, now officially called Gurugram, which were supposed to have been handed over in 2012.
The court also said today that it will decide in January next year, the quantum of interest that Unitech will have to pay to the buyers.
The judges rejected Unitech's offer to complete construction and hand over flats to some buyers by April next year, saying, "Unitech, by delaying the completion of flats, can't waste time on excuses."
"A property developer has to live up to the terms of contract and gain the trust of people so that people can dream of getting their houses. If the faith is lost everything is lost," the court observed.
The court had ordered Unitech to refund the buyers in August this year.
Vikas Kaul, one of those who had bought an apartment in the Vistas project told NDTV, "I lost my house in Kashmir 27 years ago and put in all my savings in Unitech seven years ago, making a full payment. We went to the consumer forum and won the case. Now in the Supreme Court we couldn't afford senior lawyers and so we argued our case ourselves.
"I am partly happy that we will be getting our money back," he added.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
