New Delhi: The Supreme Court today agreed to hear next week the Centre’s plea seeking transfer of various petitions challenging the validity of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (Rera) pending before various high courts to the Delhi high court.
The government mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and said that 21 petitions challenging the validity of the Act were pending before the high courts across the country.
Additional solicitor-general Maninder Singh told the bench, which also comprised Justices Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar, that all these matters should be transferred for adjudication before the high court here.
To avoid multiplicity of litigation on the issue, all these matters pending in the high courts, including those of Bombay and Karnataka, should be transferred here, he said. The bench agreed to hear the plea on September 4.
The Rera came into effect on May 1, a year after it was passed by both Houses of Parliament. The validity of this Act has been challenged in various high courts by several petitioner, including the builders and promoters of real estate firms. Recently, the Bombay high court had asked the Centre and the state to file their responses on the petitions challenging various provisions of the Act.
As per the Act, developers, projects and agents had till July 31 to mandatorily register their projects with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Any unregistered project would be deemed to be unauthorised by the regulator. Under Rera, each state and union territory will have its own Regulatory Authority (RA) which will frame regulations and rules as per the Act.
Rera covers both new project launches and the on-going projects which have not been completed or the occupation certificate not received. It makes it obligatory on the part of the builders not to book, sell or offer for sale, or invite persons to purchase any plot, apartment or building in any real estate project without registering the project with the authority.
