City civil court has asked cops to look into the matter and act against those guilty after many buyers claimed HDIL had failed to hand over homes they had already paid for
At least 20 families who had booked luxury apartments developed by the Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) but are yet to gain possession of the flats, finally found reason to celebrate on Saturday. A local court asked the police to act in accordance with the law and if necessary, prosecute the developers for denying legal owners access to homes they had paid for. Over 300 families had booked the apartments in Kurla and made final payments to HDIL but the developer, according to the complainants, had held back possession letters and demanded more money from some of them.
Following the order from the city civil court, the local police station has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the developer. Officers at the Vinoba Bhave Nagar police station said they had already received 55 written complaints against the developer on the same issue.
The home-buyers had taken HDIL to court alleging that they were being denied the keys to apartments they had paid for. The complainants also claimed HDIL was demanding extra payments for the flats located in Kurla west. The firm was to hand over possession to over 100 homebuyers by December 2013 — a promise they are yet to fulfill.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shabnam Latiwala, one of the home-buyers said, “An FIR has been registered with the Vinoba Bhave Nagar police station. There are more cases to be filed in the civil court against the developer. We are awaiting the next hearing date on April 9.”
When contacted, S B Raut, senior police inspector incharge of the case, said, “As we are yet to submit the report to the court we cannot share all the details but we have taken an FIR against the developer and we have received about 50 written complaints against the developer too from other home-buyers.”