In a judgment given on 10-2-09, the National Consumer Commission upheld the order of the Mysore District Consumer Forum ordering Brigade Developers Pvt. Ltd. to pay damages for substandard construction of an apartment building.
P.M. Bhat who had bought an apartment in the Brigade "Retreat" building constructed on Adi Pampa Road, V.V.Puram, by Brigade Developers had complained that the approved plan for the building showed that the height of the ceiling from the floor as 2.85 m, but the actual height was only 2.65 m. This violated not only the approved plan but also the National Building Code of India 1970 which mandated 2.75 m as the minimum ceiling height. Bhat had complained that the builders had made illegal profit by reducing the height of the floor. The Forum agreed that this was a deficiency in service and ordered Brigade Developers Pvt. Ltd. to pay the complainant Rs. 25,000 to meet the financial loss suffered by him due to this substandard construction. The Forum awarded an additional Rs. 75,000 compensation to the complainant noting that "...the complainant and his family members are forced to reside in such building for their entire life with lesser ventilation. This defect and deficiency can not be removed by any means."
The builder filed an appeal before the Karnataka State Consumer Commission arguing that Bhat had signed a declaration at the time of taking possession of the flat stating that he had conducted a detailed inspection of the flat and was satisfied with the construction and had no claims against the builder. The Commission said that the question whether the signature was obtained by force or not can only be decided in a civil court and set aside the order of the District Forum.
Bhat went in appeal before the National Commission. The National Commission observed that the purchaser of the flat is under duress to sign the declaration because, otherwise, he is not given the flat. So even after signing such a declaration, he has a right to obtain legal redress to any defects in construction, the Commission said.
The National Commission also noted that in the case of another flat in the same building, the ceiling height was as low as 2.31 m and Mysore CIty Corporation had issued the builder a legal notice for this violation. When Brigade Developers Pvt. Ltd issued a press statement saying there were no violations in the building and that MCC had closed the matter, N.Jayaram, the then Commissioner of MCC, issued a counter press release stating that the building had violated the law and that MCC had not closed the matter. The National Commission said that this press statement of MCC weakened the case of the builder, overturned the decision of the State Commission and confirmed the order of the District Forum. It also ordered the builder to pay Rs. 10,000 as costs to Bhat.