CUTTACK: The Inspector General of Registration (IGR), Odisha on Wednesday clarified before the Orissa High Court that the restrictions imposed on registration of apartments will not be applicable to projects which had received completion certificates from competent authority prior to May 1, 2017, the date of commencement of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act 2016.
IGR had on July 14 issued a public notice stating that the restrictions will not be imposed on any project ‘completed’ before implementation of RERA Act 2016. But the court had asked the IGR to properly clarify the word ‘completed’ as it can lead to ambiguity. IGR Jyotiprakash Das gave the clarification in an affidavit.
Taking note of it, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice MS Raman directed the IGR to notify the clarification again promptly as a ‘corrigendum’ and give wide publicity so that the ambiguity attached to the word ‘completed’ in the public notice issued on July 14, 2022 is dispelled.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by a Bhubaneswar-based apartment owner Bimalendu Pradhan challenging the validity of the Odisha Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Rules 2021 on the ground that it is contrary to provisions of the RERA Act, 2016. Advocate Mohit Agarwal argued on behalf of the petitioner. In an interim order on May 12 the court had directed the IGR to strictly ensure that the sale deeds registered hereafter abide by the RERA Act and rules thereunder.