The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to pay a compensation of ₹5 lakh to a home buyer, in addition to a refund of ₹76 lakh along with interest, for causing “extreme mental agony”, after it failed to deliver possession of his flat at the NBCC Green View Apartments in Gurgaon.
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The court observed that purchasing a house is one of the most significant investments an individual or a family can make in their lifetime, and it often involves years of savings, meticulous planning and emotional investment. Compensating wronged homebuyers is not just a matter of rectifying past injustices but also about deterring future misconduct, it added.
The petitioner, a retired government employee, said he purchased the flat in Green View Apartments in 2012, but in spite of paying the entire sale price of over ₹76 lakh in 2017, the unit was never handed over to him.
The court observed that the petitioner has been deprived of his money for the last 10 years as “structurally defective houses” were being constructed, leaving him in a complete lurch, and added that NBCC should be “dealt with severely” for its reluctance to pay interest on the amount and ensuring the petitioner’s rehabilitation.
“This is a classic case of extreme hardships suffered by a home buyer who has been made to run from pillar to post after having spent his entire life savings... Respondent (NBCC) has been exceedingly unfair in treating the home buyers in this manner. “The emotional toll of living in a limbo, uncertain about the future of their investment and the stability of their living arrangements cannot be understated,” the court said.