Mumbai: MahaRERA lawyers seek new administrator to clear backlogs quickly

Ramesh Prabhu

With over 4,000 cases pending before MahaRERA and two out of its three members, including the chairman, retiring or having retired, litigants and lawyers practising at the regulatory body, feel that the new head would have to be a strong administrator, who not only clears backlogs quickly, but also ensures that orders are executed by developers and builders. According to sources at MahaRERA, former chief secretary Ajoy Mehta and present chief secretary Sanjay Kumar are in the race for the top post.

Gautam Chaterjee, who was the chairman of MahaRERA, retired on January 19, while BD Kapadnis, a key member of the three-member body, will be retiring on March 5. This means that by next month, two out of the three posts will be vacant.

Chartered Accountant Ramesh Prabhu, also founder chairman of MahaSEWA (Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association) said that the responsibility of hearing cases will now fall upon Dr Vijay Satbir Singh, who is also the acting chairman. "The vacuum needs to be filled at the earliest, because there are about 4,000 cases pending."

Prabhu said that while "Chatterjee was a good administrator, the litigants were not happy, as most of his orders would be challenged at the tribunal". "The same would be either set aside or the tribunal would pass a revised order. Also, the developers and builders would not take the MahaRERA orders seriously, and instead of implementing the order, by refunding or paying interest to the litigants, most of them would go on an appeal to either the tribunal or Bombay High Court, and even the apex court."

Advocate Anil D'souza, secretary, MahaRERA Bar Association feels that only a "visionary" can tackle the current backlog at MahaRERA. "A simple calculation says that the body is now operating at 50 per cent of its bench strength. There are several issues that MahaRERA needs to take cognisance of, one of which is the delay in the first hearing date of every matter. Since the number of cases has exponentially increased, more benches are needed for speedy adjudication of matters."

Prabhu said that Mehta, former BMC commissioner, who is currently advisor to CM Uddhav Thackeray, and Kumar are likely contenders for the new post. "Both Mehta and Kumar have strong on ground experience. While Mehta was always known as a successful administrator, who had formulated the new Development Control and Promotional Regulations (DCPR) 2034, Kumar was the Additional Chief Secretary (Housing), during whose tenure the MahaRERA was introduced under the central RERA Act." If appointed, Mehta, 61, would hold the position for four years, as the retirement age is 65 years. Kumar, on the other hand, would have a full term of five years.

"Unfortunately, MahaRERA has failed in coming up with any drastic policy decision change, which would have otherwise brought in proactive changes in the real estate industry. We must understand that no one is interested in litigation; the need of the hour was to find solutions to the problems faced by both litigants and developers, and pass orders, which never got implemented, depriving justice to the litigants," said Prabhu.

Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, who practices at RERA, said, "I have appeared in over 400 complaints before MahaRERA since its inception, and the fact is that thousands of cases are still pending, and not a single hearing has happened in the last one year. We can understand that the lockdown, and subsequent time needed in setting up of infrastructure for carrying out online petitions, is leading to delays. But, if work doesn't spill over to the weekends for a few months at least, this [disturbing trend] will continue." He suggests that MahaRERA bring all cases against a single developer/builder under few different categories and club them as a single case and pass a common order, instead of looking at individual cases.

Pimenta further added that till before the lockdown, the MahaRERA chairman and two of the members were operating from three different offices - SRA Building in Bandra East, BKC and Churchgate. He feels that all three members should operate from a single place. "This would be in the interest of a large number of litigants and professionals, who are made to run from one office to another, making it physically impossible to be at two offices at the same time."

Advocate Nilesh Gala, who also practices at MahaRERA, said, "We are expecting the new chairman to keep the functioning of the regulatory body more transparent and also expedite hearing of the complaints. Some of the cases have been pending for years together. If they cannot be heard within 60 days, the purpose of introducing the RERA Act will be futile."