Dear Sir/Madam:
On 1st March 2007 the undersigned had filed a complaint before the State Commission, West Bengal against a Builder for failing to transfer & register the title of the property purchased by us from them.
On 29th February 2009 the State Commission passed an Order directing the Builder to transfer & register the said property in our favour and also to pay us compensation and costs.
On 3rd April 2009 the Builder filed an appeal against the above Order in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which was allowed after the admission hearing. We have filed an opposition but have not heard anything further from NCRDC.
On 16th June 2009 we obtained documentary evidence showing that on 16th April 2008 the Builder had sold and delivered possession of the subject property to a 3rd Party without any information to us or to the State Commission.
Therefore, in effect, the Builder had sold the property to a 3rd Party while our complaint case was sub-judice before the State Commission and the Builder had concealed this material fact for almost 12 months.
It is felt that inbecause the Builder had already sold the property to a 3rd Party when the State Commission had passed the Order directing the Builder to transfer the property to us, the Order passed by the State Commission was infructuous and therefore the circumstances should automatically render the appeal filed by the Builder in NCDRC as invalid.
We filed an opposition to the Builder's appeal stating as above but no action has been taken by NCDRC till date.
Please let us know what is the best solution under the given circumstances and how we can recover either the subject property or its current value from the Builder.
Also, can the State Commission punish the Builder u/s Section 27 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 for acting in contempt of court by selling off the property when the matter of the complainants was sub-judice bvefore the Commission and for failing to disclose material facts for almost 12 months thereby causing huge losses to us and also resultant loss in public money for conducting useless hearings.
I am a retired Senior Citizen and will welcome any suggestions that would be of help to us.
Regards
P.Roy
CAclubindia
