BENGALURU: A City-based software engineer who had paid Rs one crore for the purchase of a flat at Mantri Webcity residential complex on Hennur Main Road is waging an uphill battle against Mantri Developers to get justice.
Despite getting a favourable verdict from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority court and filing an FIR against the builder in the past, Sai Pramod is in complete shock presently as he has learned to his shock that the 3BHK flat he purchased on the 15th floor had been sold by Mantri two months ago to another buyer.
Pramod had paid Rs 25 lakh from his savings and had taken a loan of Rs 75 lakh from Punjab Housing Finance Bank Ltd in 2014 to hand over the full amount to Mantri for his flat in the 15th floor.
"The project with 1,500+ apartments was supposed to be ready by August 2016. Due to delays, I had approached the RERA court for justice. The court ruled in my favour in March 2019 and asked them to pay Rs 41 lakh plus other charges including 10.75% per annum interest and the builder now needs to pay Rs 55 lakh. I have got nothing despite the court order. I later filed a writ petition in High Court against the Tahsildar who is supposed to ensure the order is upheld in December 2021," he noted.
Pramod also filed an FIR on May 18, 2019, at Cubbon Park against Mantri under Sections 420 and 506, which deal with cheating.
"No action was taken for two years by the cops. Later, after I approach the HC, they said that the builder had recently got a stay against all FIRs filed against him. It is not just me, many buyers are affected terribly," he charged.
Insisting that no new property had been handed to him yet, the engineer said, "How can they sell my unit X-1501 without returning my money or even getting a No Objection certificate from me?" I have spoken to the new buyers too to confirm it. The government portal, Kaveri Online, shows the apartment had been sold on February 18, 2022."
Pramod no longer wants an alternative property from Mantri. "I was paying Rs 65,000 every month for the last five years toward bank loan but finally stopped it in November 2020,," Pramod said.
He demands that the builder settle his full bank loan and pay the court-ordered compensation. "Today no one picks up my call at Mantri. If I visit their head office near Vittal Mallya Road in person, I cannot go past the reception. After paying Rs One crore to them, look at the way I am getting treated," he charged.
Builder's claims: TNIE tried reaching out to Mantri Developers for an official response over a period of two days. Repeated calls to the Head Office only got automated responses and no response after one is put on hold. Phone calls and messages to Snehal Mantri, a family member in the company's top management went unanswered. Gaurav Mishra, who said he looked after the sales of WebCity claimed to this reporter that Sai Pramod had already been allotted a flat of a bigger size at Mantri Lithos. He confirmed that the flat had been sold by them and blamed the buyer. Mishra insisted this reporter send across a questionnaire so that it could be sent to his legal team.
The questionnaire sent never got a response. When reminded about it, Mishra said "It may take a couple of days to organise the required," and invited this reporter to the Head Office to take a look at the relevant documents. When asked for soft copies of the same, he stopped responding. Asked about the lack of response to calls from the Head Office, he kept mum.