Improvement Trust loses 11 cases in district, 1 in state commission
Avneet Kaur
Jalandhar, April 15
In a major setback, the Jalandhar Improvement Trust has lost 11 cases in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and one in the state commission. The judgments in all the cases came this week.
The cases were filed by allottees who had received partial possession of their flats without basic amenities. As a result, the Trust has been ordered to either provide basic amenities within three months or pay over Rs 1.5 crore, including principal amount with interest, compensation and litigation expenses, to the allottees in question.
Jit Fails to honour its commitments
As many as 10 cases were filed by allottees of Indrapuram-Master Gurbanta Singh Enclave housing scheme, one case each was filed by allottees of Bibi Bhani scheme and Surya Enclave 170 acres scheme Indrapuram plaintiffs said the possession of their flats was due in 2010, but the Trust had failed on its commitment to provide the promised apartments with all basic facilities even after 13 years
While 10 cases were filed by allottees of Indrapuram-Master Gurbanta Singh Enclave housing scheme, one case each was filed by allottees of Bibi Bhani scheme and Surya Enclave 170 acres scheme. The 12 complainants are Hans Ram, Vikas Kumar, Nachhattar Ram, Santosh Kapahi, Baljit Kaur, Amarjit Singh, Sat Prakash, Rakesh Dhawan, Vijay Kumar, Saroj, Rajesh Kumar and Rakesh Kumar.
In their complaints, the plaintiffs of Indrapuram housing scheme said they paid nearly Rs 4.3 lakh each to JIT in 2008 for the flats allotted to them at Master Gurbanta Singh Enclave. They said the possession of their flats was due in 2010 and the Trust promised the apartments to be equipped with all basic facilities and good quality infrastructure, which doesn’t exist even after 13 years now.
They said a 40-foot approach road was promised at the site, while the given road is only 11-foot wide. They said the Trust authorities had ditched them by giving wrong information about the site as the complex even did not have a proper sewerage system.
“Prior to moving to the district commission, we had made a number of appeals to the JIT to develop the site as promised in their brochures, when they launched the scheme, but they hardly bothered to pay heed to our genuine demands,” said complainants, adding that at present, the complex has become a safe haven for the anti-social elements, who had illegally occupied the flats.
Rajesh Kumar of Bibi Bhani Complex said the JIT forced the allottees to take possession of their flats in 2017, which was due in 2012. “Even after giving the possession five years after the due date, the facilities such as streetlights, electricity connection and roads that were promised at the time of allotment were missing. So, we had no other option but to move to the court to seek justice,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the case of Rakesh Kumar of Surya Enclave 170 acres scheme, who filed a complaint at the State Commission, said, he had paid Rs 19.64 lakh (25 per cent of the actual amount) to the JIT for the SCO allotted to him.
He said the Trust without informing him prior, issued the allotment letter, and sought the remaining amount within 15 days. “I sought one month’s time to make the payment, but the JIT after that didn’t issue the allotment letter,” he added.
The state commission, had held JIT for deficiency in service, and ordered it to refund the amount with 9 per cent interest and Rs 50,000 as compensation and litigation expenses.
In other 11 judgments, the district commission had ordered JIT to provide basic amenities within three months, failing which, it had to refund the amount paid by them with 9 per cent interest and Rs 30,000.
