Plea for Real Estate Regulatory Authority

An aggrieved petitioner A Joseph Stanley of Chrompet said the Parliament had enacted the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 for the regulation and promotion of the real estate sector and to ensure sale of plot, apartment, or building or sale of real estate project, in an efficient and transparent manner.

Though the Act had come into force on May 1, 2016, itself the Tamil Nadu government through a GO on June 22, 2017 had merely designated the Secretary to Government, Housing and Urban Development as the Real Estate Authority as an interim arrangement only, he said. 

The non-appointment of a regular authority as well as the adjudicating officer defeated the real purpose of the Act, he added.

The petitioner, on highlighting the suffering of many who had invested their hard-earned money and yet to get possession or a refund along with compensation as provided under the Act, said there is also a provision to conduct investigation and initiate action apart from passing an order in the Act that are being curtailed due to the non-appointment of an appropriate regular authority.

He also cited a Supreme Court observation in the case of Jaypee Infratech Ltd that homebuyers are the main sufferers of real estate industry’s lethargy.