DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand High Court has affirmed a RERA order mandating Paratus Real Estates Pvt Ltd to pay 50% of the penalty amount prior to its appeal, dismissing the developer’s argument that only 30% was required under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.
Justice Pankaj Purohit of a single bench rejected two similar petitions from the company and chose not to interfere with the RERA directive, emphasizing that the “Act is designed to protect consumers’ interests in the real estate sector and should be interpreted rigorously.”
On March 28, RERA Dehradun instructed the promoter to refund Rs 22,69,159 to complainant Amit Kumar Garg and Rs 13.5 lakh to Ashok Kumar Gupta, including an interest rate of 11.10% from the payment dates. The refunds were to be completed within 45 days, or additional interest would accumulate until the repayments were made.
In its appeal filed under Section 43 of the Act, Paratus contended that since the allottees had defaulted on EMI payments, it should have only been necessary to deposit 30% of the amount instead of 50%. The bench remarked that “there is no illegality in the order issued by the tribunal.”
