Karnataka CM to appoint RERA appellate tribunal chairman: State to HC

The HC petition was filed by Mathew Thomas, a buyer of a flat in the Sobha City project in Bengaluru, developed by listed real estate developer Sobha Ltd.

Facing flak from the Karnataka High Court, the state government on April 15 told the court that chief minister Siddaramaiah will be appointing the chairman of the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (KRERA) Appellate Tribunal, and that the file is awaiting his signature.

The order is expected to be passed by the next hearing posted for April 23, Chaitanya SG, the advocate who represented the state said.

This was after the court pulled up the government for not filling up vacancies since June 2023 leading to a non-functional RERA tribunal, Moneycontrol reported.

The appellate tribunal hears appeals (from buyers or developers) against orders passed by the state regulatory body. A June 15, 2023, KRERA notification read, "The chairman is relieved of duties. The bench cannot be constituted for proceedings due to the vacancy."

The Karnataka High Court ruling was based on a petition filed by Mathew Thomas, a buyer of a flat in the Sobha City project in north Bengaluru, developed by the eponymous listed real estate developer.

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Thomas had initially filed a complaint with KRERA regarding a delay in possession on the part of and lack of compensation from the developer. The real estate arbiter ruled in the buyer's favour, following which Sobha filed an appeal with the tribunal. However, in the absence of a chairman and the requisite quorum at the tribunal, the case had been hanging fire for five years leading Thomas to approach the high court.

The Karnataka High Court noted that the tribunal is not functional due to the absence of the chairman. Thus, the state is prima facie piling up cases at the Karnataka High Court, it said.

Election not to delay the appointment, says HC

Last month, the advocate representing the state government told the court that the announcement of the general election has been interfering with the appointment process.

"The proceedings which have gone on from January cannot be stalled on the ground that the elections are now declared," the court said, terming the constitution of the tribunal and the filling up of vacancies as "imperative".

"It is needless to observe that the order is passed in the peculiar facts of this case, as the constitution of the Tribunal and appointment of members to the RERA is crucial," the court added.

The case

The complaint filed by Thomas, who had paid upwards of Rs 3 crore to buy a row house in the Sobha project, has been hanging fire for five years, with the KRERA for two years and then pending before the tribunal for three years.

Last month, the Karnataka High Court noted that the last appeal in this case was filed by Sobha (against the order passed by KRERA) in February 2023.

"However, the same still remains pending due to the vacancy, especially when the Tribunal is supposed to dispose of the appeal within 60 days of the complaint. The state government should inform about the timeline of the new chairman before the next hearing on February 2," the court order passed in January 2024, as Moneycontrol reported.