Consumer Complaint Against Builder

Do not buy Plots which are not Biappa approved near BIAL

2012-07-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

Planning authority detects sale of sites formed in unauthorised layouts

Planning to invest in property in the vicinity of the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA)? Be cautious.

The Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority (BIAAPA) has found builders selling sites in the nearby layouts formed without obtaining mandatory approval from the Authority.

The BIAAPA is the planning authority for the areas surrounding the international airport. An official of the Authority told Deccan Herald that during a recent inspection it was found that two layouts near Devanahalli were unauthorised.

“We found that property developers had erected boards on the sites claiming they had obtained approval from the BIAAPA. But, as per our records, these layouts don’t exist even on paper. We immediately removed the board and asked the local gram panchayat to take action against the property owners for misleading the public,” the official said.

The officials of the Authority said buyers keen on purchasing properties around BIA need to be extremely cautious and cross check with the BIAAPA before proceeding further.

Notification

The Authority has also issued a public notification (dated July 8, 2012), requesting property purchasers to be cautious while purchasing sites in the area. The list of approved layouts is posted on the BIAAPA website, www.biaapa.in

The planning area of the international airport sprawls over 792 sq km and comprises several layouts spread across Devanahalli, Doddaballapur and Bangalore North taluks. The officials said people approach the Authority only after being cheated by developers or builders.

“It will be in the interest of purchasers if they verify the documents with the Authority, ”an official said.

The BIAAPA office is located at 333/1, 1st Floor, VJ Complex, Sulibele Road, Devanahalli Town, Bangalore Rural district.

When Media visited some areas surrounding the BIA, boards were seen erected on the sites, claiming they had been approved by the BIAAPA.

Sunil Kumar, a resident of Shettigere, located a few km from the airport said the price of a sq foot of land in the area ranges between Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,500. “However, nobody knows whether these layouts are approved by authority concerned,” he added.

Legality of Purva Midtown Residencies questioned

2012-07-15T00:23:00.000-07:00

DKS project on disputed land

Legality of Purva Midtown Residencies questioned

The land on which the joint project of Puravankara Projects Limited and Congress leader D K Shivakumar - ‘Purva Midtown Residencies’ - is coming up at Beniganahalli was acquired in 2003, though the BDA had already issued an acquisition notification.

Rules under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, prohibit transfer of land or a part of it notified by the government for a public purpose under Section 4(1) and so do the BDA rules.

A BDA official told Media: “Transfer of land either by sale, lease or through a gift deed is not legal after the preliminary notification has been issued for the acquisition of the land. This particular clause is included in the land acquisition notices issued to the owners.”
But B K Sreenivasan sold 4.20 acre of land to Shivakumar on December 18, 2003 even as BDA’s final notification issued on October 23, 1986 for acquisition of the same land was still valid. The denotification took place only in 2010, seven years after the sale.

The Supreme Court, in the cases of Y N Garg versus State of Rajasthan (1996 (1) SCC 284), and Sneh Prabha versus State of UP (1996 (7) 325), had held: “Alienation made by the erstwhile owner of the land after publication of the notification under Section 4(1), do not bind either the State government or the beneficiary for whose benefit the land was acquired. The purchaser does not acquire any valid title. Even the colour of title claimed by the purchaser was void.”

However, Shivakumar makes Prudential Housing and Infrastructure Development Limited, represented by its Director Nani R Choksey, represented by H G Nagananda, who held the Special Power of Attorney, the confirming party. The confirming party, in turn, nominated Puravankara as the developer in 2004 on a 73:27 ratio, with Shivakumar getting 27 per cent.

Jackbastian Kaitan Nazareth, the Chief Operating Officer of Puravankara, after consultation with his legal team, said: “Shivakumar has made a honest purchase of the land.”

The previous owner (Sreenivasan), Nazareth said, had written to the BDA seeking the status of his land in 2001 and claimed that BDA had replied stating that it had not used about 4.20 acre of the said land. Thereby, he argued that the owner was justified in selling the land. However, experts point out that the land was still not de-notified for the sale to take place and that the then owner required to file an application seeking permission for transfer of land.

In Puravankara’s defence Nazareth, quoting a High Court of Karnataka judgement, said that the acquiring authority cannot endlessly hold the land acquired for a purpose and that the acquisition would lapse in such a case. Experts agreeing with the observation, however said: “...In that case the then owner should have sought for de-notification. But selling the land at his discretion may not comply with the laws.”

Builder mortgages Palike property for loan

2012-07-13T07:25:00.002-07:00

Claims rent accrued from leased-out complex as primary security

After the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) made news by pledging its prime properties - the historic K R Market and the Public Utility building - with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), a private builder has done a BBMP by mortgaging a Palike property taken on lease.

Documents in possession of Media show that Davanam Jewellers, which had entered into a concession agreement with the BBMP to “refurbish, build, operate and transfer” the Madiwala commercial complex, has provided the BBMP property as security for raising a loan of Rs 14.65 crore for its subsidiary company, Kausthubha Projects Pvt Ltd.

As per the company’s loan agreement with the State Bank of India (SBI), Overseas Branch, St Mark’s Road, Kausthubha Projects Pvt Ltd has provided as collateral security “assignment of all rights, titles and interests of the concessionaire / sub licensee in respect of all project agreements, documents and contracts (i.e. concession agreement entered into between Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and M/s Davanam Jewellers Pvt Ltd and further concession agreement entered into between M/s Davanam Jewellers Pvt Ltd and M/s Kausthubha Projects Pvt Ltd)”.

According to BBMP sources, the concession agreement was entered into by the then BMP and Davanam in 2005, during the coalition government headed by the Congress, for a period of 30 years.

“We did sign the agreement with Davanam at a rate of Rs 1.02 crore for every three months, with the rentals and leasing of shops in the complex being taken care of by the party in concern,” said a Palike official. The BBMP officials did not have a clue of Davanam and its subsidiary keeping the Palike property as collateral security with SBI, for raising a loan of Rs 14.65 crore for a period of seven years from September, 2009 till August 2016.

Justifying the collateral, Managing Director for Davanam Jewellers, D V Harish told Media that the BBMP property was never pledged and it was only the agreement which was shown by them as the collateral.

“We do not have the right to keep the property as collateral. What we have shown as our primary security to raise the loan is the rent which is accrued from the property leased out to various shopkeepers,” said Harish.

Another violation

Yet another violation which has come to the fore is that Davanam Jewellers has, over the past seven years, sub-leased the property to Kausthubha Projects Pvt Ltd, its subsidiary and has a stakeholder in the form of D K Shivakumar, Congress MLA from Kanakapura.

Shivakumar is the only other stakeholder in Kausthubha Projects Pvt Ltd, with 50,000 shares allotted to him in May 2010. The Congress MLA and former minister has provided personal guarantee along with the BBMP property as collateral to raise the Rs 14.65-crore loan from SBI.

BBMP officials claim that the sub-lease of its property is never approved and is in violation of the concession agreement. “If they have done it then Davanam Jewellers have a serious problem on their head,” said a senior BBMP official.

However, Harish said the concession agreement has in fact given room for them to sub-lease the property.

“Also, it has to be considered that we have in fact repaid our loan to SBI and the agreement has been satisfied,” he argued. The loan was satisfied by Davanam Jewellers in March this year, he claims.

Legal experts say the concession agreement cannot be kept as security, as the property is never in the private developer’s name.

“How can any private party keep a concession agreement between two parties as collateral? It is never their property to utilise for raising funds. The only thing a private party can do is show it as surety for the purpose of getting loan and not as security,” said a legal expert.

Real estate fraud from Vyalikaval society

2012-07-13T01:19:00.002-07:00

MetroCorp Nirvana @ Devanahalli Scam

2012-07-13T01:14:00.002-07:00

URL:http://www.metrocorp.in

Orange Properties scam: Bangalore victims await justice

2012-07-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of people in Bangalore duped by real estate deals are queuing up for justice. The victims allege cheating by the Orange Properties' Group, which offered lucrative low-cost housing deals early this year, the promoters of which disappeared after taking the initial installments from buyers. The cases are being probed by the city's crime branch now, reports CNBC-TV18s Deepa Balakrishnan.

Here is a verbatim transcript of Deepa Balakrishnans comments on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

After six years in Bangalore, logistics manager KB Shivakumar decided Orange Properties Granity European Township, would be his dream home address. He borrowed from family, took loans and one year later, his dream is over.

My wife had taken a bank loan for Rs 2 lakh for which we're paying Rs 8,000 from August with monthly interest, Shivakumar says.

A fancy, modern name and this ad blitz attracted buyers by the hordes and owning low-cost land in one of India's fastest growing cities was too tempting. The promoters made it even more attractive free cars for early birds, formally organized site visits and claimed municipal approvals would come in soon.

For Infotech professional Sudhakaran Iyani, this was enough temptation to invest all the money he had earned by selling off their flat in Mumbai and settle in Bangalore.

We were convinced if someone can spend so much on advertisement, there can't be any hanky panky, Iyani said.

Retired military engineer SV Ramamurthy even persuaded his NRI son-in-law to invest. There are many victims in various projects, not only in European township. They've launched unabated with various displays without any fear whatsoever of law authorities, Ramamurthy says.

Ever since the cases were transferred to the crime branch, there's been a continuous stream of victims. At last count, there were 294 complaints of cheating to the tune of Rs 11 crore but investors say that's just the tip of the ice-berg it could go up to Rs 70 crore.

Though the police have now registered 20 FIRs on the basis of complaints, the follow-up appears sluggish. Only one section, the IPC under cheating has been used and no serious efforts have been made to move forward with criminal proceedings. The builders' lawyers have meanwhile moved quickly to approach the court asking for quashing the FIRs.

Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner Crime, said,We've told them specifically that they should repay the amount with a crossed demand draft, account-payee demand draft so that there is no question of cheque bounce.

This is a statement, which doesn't explain why the accused should not face criminal proceedings as well.

Bangalore-based construction firm dupes NRI of Rs57 lakh

2012-07-13T01:05:00.000-07:00

A leading Bangalore-based construction company has been accused of duping an NRI woman of Rs57 lakh after promising a duplex apartment in the city.

Juliana D’souza, a Bangalorean settled in the UAE, responded to an advertisement by Skyline Construction and Housing that said residential projects approved and financed by HSBC are available for NRIs.

As her family wanted to own a house in the city that they can use after retirement, D’souza approached the company, selected a flat and paid through a loan from HSBC.

Skyline signed a sale agreement with D’souza in July 2007 to construct and hand over a three-bedroom duplex apartment on the second floor of the residential complex in the heart of the city.

Though D’souza made the full payment, the company failed to construct and hand over the three-bedroom duplex apartment after five years, though it completed the construction of the building, she said in her complaint.

‘Evading response’
“I tried to communicate to Skyline many times but every time they gave evasive replies. This shows the company wanted to defraud customers staying abroad, who find it difficult to visit Bangalore,” she said in her complaint.

Skyline officials refused to comment on the issue, stating that they need to verify the complaint. Based on the complaint, Ashok Nagar police have registered a cheating case against Skyline.

source:http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_bangalore-based-construction-firm-dupes-nri-of-rs57-lakh_1714438