MahaRERA has been directed by the MahRERA’s Appellate Tribunal to hear the matter afresh in regards to real estate web portals, after the portals challenged the October 2019 order.
The October 2019 order had asked the web portals to register with the authority as real estate agents, the web portals challenged the order stating that they were not facilitating any sale, but merely were providing information via advertisements to the public.
The portals also claimed that they asked people visiting their websites that before making a decision, they should check details of a project from other authorities which even included MahaRERA.
In July 2018, the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat had filed a complaint with MahaRERA stating that the web portals be registered as real estate agents with MahaRERA.
A detailed hearing was conducted and the MahaRERA closed the matter for order/s after conclusion of arguments of all
the parties on February 8, 2019. The web portals in their appeal. pointed out that the common order was announced only on October 3, 2019, after an unexplained inordinate delay of more than six months of time interval from the date of closure of proceedings.
This is the legal point that the Appellate Tribunal held and passed a detailed order on January 6, 2023. In its order the tribunal held that, as per the view held by the Higher Courts, delayed delivery of judgment is held to be denial of justice making the order delivered after a period of 6 months, unsustainable even without examining the merits and demerits of the order.
The order passed by the Appellate Tribunal read, “In this case, the fact that the order in the instant Appeals is passed after more than 6 months of closing the arguments of the parties and reserving the same for order. We, therefore find substance in the preliminary objection raised by the Appellants herein and cannot accept the contentions of the MGP in view of the categorical view held on the issue by the Hon’ble Bombay High Court (supra). In that view of the matter, in our considered view, the impugned order cannot be sustained.”
After which the tribunal remanded the matter back to MahaRERA to hear and decide afresh by giving sufficient opportunity to the concerned parties.
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