In May 2021, the two Judges Supreme Court bench while entertaining a Writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India filed by For People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE), an umbrella non-profit association for homebuyers, struct down the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act, 2017 (WB-HIRA). The Court noted that an overwhelmingly large part of the act overlaps with the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (“RERA”). This significant overlap makes the act repugnant and, hence, unconstitutional. The Court further clarified that the West Bengal (Regulation of Promotion of Construction and Transfer by Promoters) Act, 1993 which had been repealed by HIRA was also repugnant to RERA and would therefore stand impliedly repealed. The Court additionally urged the state authorities to implement the RERA within the state.
Not much effort towards implementation of RERA: It has been eight months since the Supreme Court declared WB-HIRA unconstitutional, even then the state government has barely made any effort towards the implementation of RERA in the state. This has led to an unregulated Real Estate Sector in West Bengal, where builders can exploit home buyers by openly flouting the law.
Status of RERA: Although the government established a RERA authority in the state, the chairpersons and members have not been appointed. Even the RERA portal is not functioning in the state. In fact, the website of WB-HIRA is still acting, misleading the general public.
Present Petition details: On 24 January 2022, FPCE filed a miscellaneous application for the immediate implementation of RERA in the state. According to FPCE, they had already written to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and West Bengal’s Ministry of Housing for effective and expeditious implementation of RERA in the state. However, the state government has not taken appropriate action to implement RERA provisions in ‘letter and spirit’ because of which the law is merely on paper. This has led to the builders acting at their whims and fancies.
In the petition, FPCE has asked the court to direct the State government to implement RERA in a time-bound manner and further file a compliance report within three months from the date of the petition. According to the petition, various Real Estate projects have been initiated and are being advertised by the developers without registration, which are violating the provisions of RERA. It is also unclear if the promoters are adhering to the requirement of insurance of projects. To ensure registrations, filing of complaints and hearings under RERA, the organisation has also asked the Court to direct the state government to immediately appoint the chairperson and members of the authority within four weeks.
With the absence of proper implementation of the law, home buyers are left with no way to file new complaints and the existing complaints under WB-HIRA cannot be continued. Due to this, Home buyers are in a vulnerable position and are being subjected to even more ruthless exploitation by the builders. In essence, the absence of a mechanism is proving to be a blessing for the builders.
Image: Ujjwal Jajjoo West Bengal Howrah Bridge
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