Issue guidelines for strict adherence to conditions while granting occupancy certificates, Karnataka HC tells govt

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has directed the state government to issue a circular with guidelines to the authorities who handle the grant of occupancy certificates to strictly adhere to the conditions necessary to be looked into while granting occupancy certificates. 

Justice M Nagaprasanna said this while declaring that ‘Serene Urbana’, the project of the petitioner Ozone Urbana Infra Developers Private Limited, Bengaluru, as ‘on-going project’ as of July 10, 2017, the date on which the RERA Rules came into force. 

“The authorities henceforth shall inspect the property, satisfy themselves whether occupancy certificate can be issued in terms of law, and only then issue such occupancy certificate, failing which those officers who handle such files where grant of occupancy certificate is sought, would be solely responsible and accountable for issuance of illegal occupancy certificates,” Justice Nagaprasanna said

The court added that the circular shall also bear that in the event of scrutiny of such occupancy certificates if it is found that they are issued contrary to law, those officers would become open to initiation of departmental enquiry, or in a given case registration of crime, as well against those officers. 

The petitioner is the promoter of ‘Serene Urbana’, an apartment complex exclusively for retired persons at Kannamangala and Poojanahalli villages, Devanahalli taluk, Bengaluru Rural district.

The company challenged the July 5, 2023, order by Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA), rejecting its interlocutory application in a complaint registered by the Serene Urbana Apartment Owners Association. 

The company had executed sale deeds for 241 apartments in an apartment complex of 318 apartments and then approached the Kannamangala Gram Panchayat and secured an occupancy certificate in 2017, based on the completion certificate submitted by the project architect. 

Upon an inspection conducted on June 29, 2022, the K-RERA passed the order declaring it an ongoing project. The company claimed that as of the date when RERA rules came into force, the completion certificate was issued and hence the project was exempted from registration under the RERA Act. 

The court perused the documents and noted that neither the completion certificate nor the representation seeking occupancy certificate even whispered about water, sanitation or electricity in place.

The court said the Residents Welfare Association has placed every document on record to demonstrate that the petitioner has engaged in fraud with the Gram Panchayat in securing the occupancy certificate. 

“Such fraud cannot be played only by the hands of the developer or by the hands of the competent officers. It can be played only when the hands of the competent officers are in the glove of the developers. It is an action hand in glove,” the court said. 

The court further said, “The developers should bear in mind, particularly of those projects, which involve retirement homes or homes for senior citizens, should not make those citizens run pillar to post, to secure accommodation, after having paid a substantial amount. It is necessary to bear in mind that retired people should
not be made to re-tire themselves.”