CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has urged the Madras High Court to designate Chennai Rent Control Tribunal to act as Tamil Nadu Real Estate Appellate Tribunal as an interim measure.
This comes as Union Urban Development secretary Durga Shankar, along with Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Rajiv Ranjan Mishra and other Union government officials, reviewed the implementation of the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act, 2016 in the State and other projects.
Sources indicated that the State government as an interim measure has urged the Registrar General of Madras High Court to get concurrence of the court to designate the Chennai Rent Control Tribunal to act as Tamil Nadu Real Estate Appellate Tribunal.
Meanwhile, a selection committee comprising the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, the state Housing Secretary and the Law Secretary has been set up to appoint chairperson and members of the authority and appellate tribunal. It is learnt that Chief Justice Indira Banerjee’s concurrence is being sought by the State government to head the committee or else suggest a nominee to act on her behalf in the selection committee.
Sources indicated that the State government has also sought a date from the Chief Justice for convening the meeting of the committee to finalise modalities for seeking nominations for the posts of chairman and members of the authority and members of the tribunal.
The interim head of the TNRERA or the Housing Secretary had already appointed several former officials of the CMDA as members of the authority. It is learnt that the government will be selecting a former judge of the Madras High Court as the chairman of the appellate tribunal. Sources indicated that they have sought nominations of at least two retired HC judges by Chief justice, of whom one will be selected as chairman of the appellate tribunal.
The move to set up the tribunal and a permanent real estate regulatory authority comes in the wake of Durga Shankar earlier writing to the State government that the transactions in primary and real estate will get adversely affected without appellate tribunal and permanent regulatory authority.