Ghaziabad: The district consumer disputes redressal commission has partly allowed a complaint filed by an Indirapuram resident against the developers of Shipra Krishna Srishti, holding the builders responsible for failing to hand over the original registered sale deed of a flat to the lender as required under a tripartite agreement.The commission directed the builders to hand over the original sale deed to HDFC and provide a photocopy to complainant Rajesh Bhalla within 15 days. If unable to do so, the builders must publish a public notice, at their own expense, in two national dailies stating that the original deed of Flat No. JAC-403 in Shipra Krishna Srishti, Indirapuram, was lost while in their possession.The forum also ordered the builders to pay Rs 50,000 towards compensation for mental agony and litigation expenses within 45 days, failing which the amount will attract 6 per cent simple annual interest until payment.Commission president Anil Kumar Pundir and members Shailja Sachan and RP Singh passed the order on May 25, while absolving HDFC of allegations of deficiency in service.According to the complaint, Bhalla, along with co-allottees — his father Baldev Krishna Bhalla and wife Venika Bhalla — had booked the flat in Shipra Krishna Srishti, a group housing project in Indirapuram, and availed a home loan from HDFC.A tripartite agreement between the buyers, lender and builders — Shipra Estate Limited and Jaikrishna Estate Developers Private Limited — was executed on Dec 5, 2022. The sale deed was registered on Jan 30, 2023.Bhalla told the commission that despite repeated emails, calls and reminders, he was unable to obtain a copy of the original sale deed, which was to be held by the lender as security against the home loan. He later issued a legal notice on April 3, 2024.In its reply, HDFC said it had repeatedly approached the builders for the original deed but did not receive it. The lender also informed the commission that HDFC Ltd had since merged with HDFC Bank and argued that no deficiency in service could be attributed to it, citing email correspondence detailing its follow-up with the developers.The builders neither appeared before the commission nor filed any response despite service of notices, following which proceedings against them were conducted ex parte.After examining the affidavit and documents placed on record, the commission held that Clause 7 of the tripartite agreement clearly required the builders to submit the original registered sale deed directly to HDFC.The forum noted that email exchanges showed HDFC repeatedly sought the document from the builders but without success.“Based on the above discussion and the facts and circumstances of the case, the Commission concludes that by failing to deliver the original registered sale deed to the bank in accordance with the terms of the tripartite agreement, the builders have violated the terms of the contract and committed a deficiency in service to the complainant and accordingly should compensate,” the commission ruled.Holding that the deficiency lay with the developers and not the lender, the commission concluded that the builders had violated the agreement by failing to deliver the original registered sale deed.
