Tripura High Court Imposes ₹40,000 Costs On Four Homebuyers Over Parallel T-RERA, Municipal Body Proceedings

The Tripura High Court has imposed ₹40,000 in costs on four homebuyers over parallel proceedings concerning alleged unauthorised construction at an apartment complex in Agartala.

The homebuyers had approached both the Tripura Real Estate Regulatory Authority (T-RERA) and the Agartala Municipal Corporation. They also filed an execution proceeding before T-RERA before approaching the High Court but did not disclose this fact.

“It transpires that they have not approached this Court with clear hands,” Justice Dr. T. Amarnath Goud observed.

The dispute concerns The Royal Peace Apartment in Battala, Agartala. The four homebuyers had purchased ground-floor units in the apartment in 2020. They alleged that the developer had constructed toilets and a brick-wall tin-shed guard room beyond the approved municipal building plan.

The homebuyers approached the municipal authorities and T-RERA over the alleged unauthorised construction. Orders were subsequently passed concerning removal of the disputed structures.

They then moved the High Court seeking enforcement of those orders. The court noted that they had already filed an execution proceeding before T-RERA before filing the writ petition. It held that this fact had been suppressed.

The court also examined how the ground floor was being used. It recorded that one homebuyer had purchased a unit for a pathology laboratory and another for an eye clinic.

The court found that the commercial use was contrary to the building permission and the deed of conveyance. It held that the premises were meant for residential use.

Another issue concerned the common toilet. The court observed that it was “a basic necessity” for security personnel, caretakers, plumbers, electricians and domestic workers.

It observed that the municipal corporation and T-RERA could have considered the ground reality and the homebuyers' locus before directing demolition.

The court also referred to the Supreme Court's ruling in Kabra and Associates v. Rekha Rajkumar Hemdev. The ruling dealt with the principle that where two concurrent remedies are available for the same cause of action, a party cannot ordinarily pursue both simultaneously after choosing one.

In the present case, the court found that the homebuyers had pursued proceedings before both T-RERA and the municipal corporation. It also found that their earlier execution proceeding before T-RERA had not been disclosed.

The court held that the homebuyers had “created litigation”. It directed each of the four petitioners to pay ₹10,000 as costs, taking the total to ₹40,000.

The amount is to be paid to the High Court Bar Associations within one month, and the homebuyers must obtain a receipt.

The writ petition was accordingly dismissed.