Two flat buyers, Sodipto Chatterjee and Tarun Kumar Ray Chaudhury, had purchased flats in 2012-2014 from developer Tirupati Construction Company, which had an agreement with landowner Ekkori Das to develop the land. However, disputes later arose between Das and the developer, cancelling their agreement. As a result, conveyance deeds were not executed for the flats. The flat buyers filed a complaint with the West Bengal State Consumer Commission seeking execution of deeds. The Commission directed the landowner and developer to do so, relying on a previous ruling that flat buyers should not suffer due to third-party disputes.
Two flat purchasers, Sodipto Chatterjee and Tarun Kumar Ray Chaudhury, approached the West Bengal State Consumer Commission seeking conveyance deeds for the flats they had purchased.
Ekkori Das owned a plot of land at Birbhum in West Bengal. On August 15, 2010, he entered into a development agreement with Tirupati Construction Co. to construct a building with ground plus two floors.
Chatterjee had bought a 680 square foot flat along with a garage in 2012 from developer Tirupati Construction Company. He took possession in 2014. Chaudhury had purchased two flats of different sizes in 2013 and 2014.
However, disputes later arose between the land owner Ekkori Das and Tirupati Construction, leading to cancellation of their development agreement. As a result, conveyance deeds for the flats were not executed.
Both the flat purchasers, Chatterjee and Chaudhary, approached the West Bengal State Consumer Commission with a joint complaint against Das and Tirupati Construction. They sought a direction to execute the conveyance deed in their favour.
The complaint was contested by the developer, stating that he was unable to execute the conveyance deed because of the dispute with the land owner which was pending before the Civil Court. The State Commission overruled this objection. Relying on a previous National Commission ruling, the State Commission held that flat buyers should not suffer due to disputes beyond their control.
The State Commission then directed both Das and Tirupati Construction to execute conveyance deeds for the flats in favour of the purchasers Chatterjee and Chaudhury.
Das appealed this decision, but in April 2024 the National Commission upheld the State Commission's ruling. Dismissing the appeal, the National Commission concurred that the land owner and developer must execute conveyance deeds for the flats as directed, so that the flat buyers' ownership is legally secured.
This ruling reinforces the principle that flat buyers' ownership rights should be legally protected through execution of conveyance deeds, regardless of disputes external to their purchase agreements.
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