Flat buyer wants apartment razed for plan violations by builder

Abdul Rub says he doesn't want to own an illegal building

No one wishes to demolish his own newly constructed house. But Abdul Rub wants the very residential complex in which his flat is situated, to be bulldozed.

Reason: The building at Chowdaiah Block in Hebbal has violations galore preventing the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from issuing occupancy certificate to the builder and possession certificates to flat owners.

The BBMP had permitted Syed Haseeb, developer of Elegant Elite residential complex at Chowdaiah Block, to construct basement, ground, first and second floors. However, the builder constructed two extra floors and left no setbacks, which was gross violation of the sanctioned building plan.

Instead of agreeing to accept the flat he had purchased, Rub chose to fight a legal battle. He complained to the BBMP on the violations by the builder. Rub has partially succeeded in his mission as the BBMP served a demolition notice on the builder.

Rub told DH that he has got D-1 flat on the ground floor of the building. The cost of the flat was Rs 78 lakh. Rub paid Rs two lakh and availed of a housing loan of Rs 60 lakh from the Central Bank of India, which was paid to the builder.

The remaining Rs 16 lakh was supposed to be paid to the builder at the time of handing over of the flat along with possession and occupancy certificates. The sale deed was signed on March 16, 2015.

“As per the agreement, the builder was supposed to give me occupancy and possession certificates, which he did not. I gave a cheque for Rs 16 lakh to the developer but immediately instructed the bank for ‘stop payment’ because I did not get the possession certificate at the time of final settlement of amount,” said Rub.

He insisted for these documents as he does not want to own a building which is illegal. “I won’t be able to sell the property in future due to irregularities,” he said. While a legal battle ensued over the cheque being dishonoured, Rub complained to the BBMP on the violations.

The BBMP assistant executive engineer of the ward issued an order on November 2, 2016 directing the builder to raze that portion of the building which violates the sanctioned building plan.

Attempts to reach Syed Haseeb, the builder, went in vain as his mobile phone was switched off. There was no response to the text message sent to him.