The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has issued a partial occupancy certificate (OC) to Tower 4 and Tower 5 of the delayed Mantri Serenity project on Kanakapura Road in southern Bengaluru.
"As per the site inspection report, it is confirmed that the construction of the above-said buildings is as per the approved revised sanction plan. The Hon’ble Commissioner has approved on 14/11/22 to issue a Partial Occupancy Certificate for the said building," the order said. The Occupancy Certificate will be issued only upon submission of renewed NOCs from the concerned departments (BWSSB/BESCOM/Fire Force/Airport Authority of India), the order added.
The project, which has been delayed by more than six years, has around 2,700 apartments spread across six blocks.
Mantri Serenity became the first project in Bengaluru to be completed using the centre's SWAMIH Fund — the last-mile funding for stressed affordable and middle-income group (MiG) housing projects across the country.
In 2021, after the developers approached the central government for the SWAMIH fund, the Investment Committee approved Rs 265 crore of funding.
Homebuyers cry foul
Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, one of the homebuyers, has paid over Rs 70 lakh out of Rs 84 lakh for an apartment in Tower 4. He, however, does not want to move in until the required clearances from the pollution control board, fire brigade, and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have been obtained. "If something happens tomorrow, who will take the responsibility," he asked.
Homebuyers claim the electricity being supplied to the towers is from a commercial line meant for construction purposes.
Advocate MD Rajkumar, who practices at the Karnataka High Court, clarified, “Currently a residential project can be registered under the BBMP Byelaws of 2003, in areas that fall under the body’s jurisdiction. For other areas, homebuyers need to check the local jurisdiction the project lies under. For example, Urban Development Board, Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board etc. Every local body has its own byelaws depending on its jurisdiction."
Anil Kalgi, who tracks the real estate industry closely, added that in the BBMP bye-laws of 2003, a partial OC is only defined for certain floors. "Hence, by default, this means that the whole building is not completed, and it can only be permitted for some floors," he added.
In a March 11 ruling in Total Environment Building vs Verghese Stephen, the Karnataka High Court noted that there is no concept of a partial OC under the RERA Act. Additionally, the court ruled, no person shall occupy a building until a complete OC has been granted.
The only time the term partial OC is used in the KRERA Act is to explain the identification of an ongoing project, Rajkumar, who also argued in favour of the homebuyers for Total Environment Building vs Verghese Stephen added.
In another 2013 High Court order in the case of IBC Knowledge Park on Bannerghatta Main Road, the court noted that partial OCs do not fall under the provisions of the BBMP Building Byelaws of 2003.
“If BDA certified the building to be in a habitable condition. We have to check under which byelaw the occupancy certificate has been issued. However, homebuyers can challenge the veracity of the certificate by writing to the BDA and then challenging the certificates at the High Court,” Rajkumar added.
Interestingly, in another KRERA case dated September 2, 2022, the homebuyers of Sobha City had challenged the legality of a partial OC. The KRERA court noted a Karnataka High Court order Writ Petition: 11522 of 2012, which said that for partly constructed buildings, an OC under the BBMP byelaws of 2003 Section 5.6 cannot be granted. It can only be granted under Section 5.7.
Section 5.6 in the BBMP byelaws speaks about the manner in which an OC can be granted to buildings under BBMP jurisdiction. Section 5.7 speaks about allowing a partial OC for different floors of a building, under “exceptional cases”, as pointed out by Kalgi.
In the same order, KRERA also noted that associations formed under the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act 1972 are "unrecognized associations."
Discrepancies in registered documents
The BDA, in its order, mentioned that Tower-4 has three basement floors, a ground floor and 29 upper floors, in addition to 100 economically weaker section (EWS) apartments. However, the deed of declaration (DoD) signed by the parties and accessed by Moneycontrol does not mention the 100 EWS apartments.
Additionally, the BDA order mentioned, “While constructing other towers (Tower 6,7,8) F.A.R. limit shall not be violated. In case of violation, the approved revised sanction plan, as a built sanction and OC will automatically get cancelled [sic].”
Homebuyers claim the initial sanction plan cleared by the local bodies does not show Tower 8 and the deed of declaration signed by the homebuyers does not mention Tower 7 and Tower 8.
"The Partial OC issued by the BDA talks about 7 and 8 towers (Condition 15 in Partial OC) which are not in the plan as per the documents shared with home buyers. As per RERA Act, section 14 (2) (ii) promoters cannot add additional towers without taking approval from 2/3 of the allottees in the project. This needs proper scrutiny and investigation [sic]," an email sent to the BDA commissioner by the homebuyers of Mantri Serenity said.
A list of questions has been sent to the BDA and the developer and Moneycontrol will update this story after receiving a response.
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