Misleading Averments Before Tribunal Cannot Go Unchecked: Haryana REAT Dismisses Alpha Corp Appeal

The Haryana Real Estate Appellate Tribunal has warned that misleading averments and false affidavits filed before it “cannot be permitted to go unchecked” and would ordinarily invite punitive action.

The caution came while dismissing an appeal filed by Alpha Corp Development Private Limited, after the tribunal found that the developer had made “wholly incorrect and misleading” statements in an affidavit concerning the status of a completion certificate for one of its projects.

A bench comprising Chairman Justice Rajan Gupta, Judicial Member Virender Parshad, and Technical Member Dinesh Singh Chauhan said it had noticed that appeals were increasingly being filed with incorrect statements, often supported by affidavits sworn despite awareness of the true factual position.

“The person swearing a false affidavit must be held accountable for attempting to mislead a quasi-judicial forum,” the tribunal observed.

The dispute turned on the developer's claim that its project had received a completion certificate. The tribunal found that the document relied upon was only a partial completion certificate and not a final one. It held that the affidavit filed in support of the appeal was “not only contumacious but inherently false.”

Upholding the real estate regulator's order requiring the project to remain registered, the tribunal reiterated that compliance under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, must continue until a final completion certificate is issued.

Referring to its powers under Section 53 of the Act, the tribunal noted that it is vested with the powers of a civil court, including in matters of perjury and contempt. It said that “in normal course,” it would initiate punitive proceedings for filing a false affidavit.

However, in the facts of the present case, the tribunal chose to give a “quietus” with a warning, cautioning the promoter to be careful while filing affidavits and to ensure that they do not contain misleading or false information.

The tribunal also directed that a copy of its judgment be forwarded to the Directorate of Town and Country Planning to oversee the developer's activities in its existing as well as proposed projects.

For Appellant: Advocate Alok Jain