The Supreme Court on August 28 advised the residents of towers E, F and G of Chintels Paradiso to approach the consumer forum rather the filing a writ petition before them.
The court, however, did not dismiss the case and proceeded to tag it with the other Chintels cases pending before it. The cases are now likely to come up for hearing on September 4.
Nearly 25 residents of towers E, F and G approached the apex court against the company and Gurugram authorities after the builder withdrew the offer to rebuild apartments at the same site. The company has also stopped paying rent for the residents after these towers were declared unsafe for occupation.
Chintels Paradiso has been marred in controversy since February 2022, after two women were killed after the ceilings of several flats in tower D of the building collapsed.
Following the collapse of the towers, besides the police, an investigation team from IIT-Delhi was asked to conduct a structural audit.
In November 2022, the Gurugram district administration ordered the demolition of Tower D after it was found unfit for habitation. The demolition order also noted that there was sagging in one of the balconies of Tower F and other signs of distress in various other flats of Towers E and F.
Subsequently, in June 2023, Tower G was also found to be unsafe for habitation.
Builder's offer
In April 2023, in a bid to settle with the homebuyers, the real estate company had held out two solutions:
(i) buyback of the property at the rate of Rs 6,500 per square feet (sq ft), or,
(ii) redevelopment of the flats at the same site.
However, the builder withdrew the offer on the grounds that there were no takers for the scheme.
Litigation in Supreme Court
A few residents of the society approached the Supreme Court in 2022. The apex court sought a response from the developer of Chintels Paradiso in November 2022. The case is currently pending.
Notably, the minor son of a woman who died in the collapse had approached the Supreme Court for recourse. However, the petition was recently withdrawn.
In July 2023, the Supreme Court upon being informed that the builder had stopped paying compensatory rent, sought the responses from the Gurugram administration and the builder.
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