Vadodara: The consumer court has directed a builder to reimburse 14 people for the cost incurred in repairs of the houses built in 1997, capping a 27-year-old legal battle. The Vadodara District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered Kirit C Patel, promoter of Kirit C Patel and Association, to pay Rs 25,000 to each complainant along with 8% interest beginning in 1997 when they purchased the tenements in Mangalam Cooperative Housing Society that he constructed in the Makarpura area. However, people found defects in the houses, which were shoddily built.
They sought compensation for repairs from Patel, but he refused. The house owners filed a complaint against him in 1997 through Jagrut Nagrik, a voluntary organization, stating that the houses they bought in his scheme were defective and were not constructed as per the approved plan. The consumer forum rejected their complaint by observing that they didn’t file the complaint within two years as per the Consumer Protection Act.
The complainants then appealed against the judgment in the state consumer commission in 2015, which directed the Vadodara district consumer forum to accept their complaint and decide the case on merits. The district consumer forum found that the houses constructed by the builder were defective. The forum also ordered the builder to pay Rs 5,000 towards legal costs and Rs 2,000 for mental harassment to each complainant.
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