*Brigade Enterprises Vs Anil Kumar Virmani & Ors*
*Forum-Supreme Court of India*
*Date-17th December, 2021*

*Sub-Whether suit for delay in delivery of possession by few apartment owners in a complex can be treated as having been made on behalf of all the apartment owners under the Consumer Protection Act and in case it is not so what remedy is available to such apartment owners?*

The Supreme Court in this case was dealing with a case where 91 purchasers of 51 apartments out of total 1134 apartments in *Brigade Lakefront* filed an application u/s 35(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 which is somewhat similarly worded as Order 1 Rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure which operates both ways and not only permits plaintiffs to sue in a representative capacity but also permits people to be sued and to be defended in an action, in a representative capacity. The court noted that in order to claim the benefit of Section 35(1)(c) , there must be sameness of interest of all the apartment owners or at least some of the apartment owners belonging to the various blocks in which 1134 apartments were constructed. There being no such averment and some of apartment owners from few blocks having not even joined, the court allowed the appeal of the Builder that the order of the National Consumer Dispute Resolution could not be held applicable to all the apartment owners.

However, those apartment owners who had filed the application were not kept sent back empty handed and the court held that the complaint filed by the respondents may have to be treated as a joint compliant. The court also gave liberty that Persons who wish to implead themselves as parties to the complaint filed by the respondents, may be allowed by the National Commission to do so, provided their grievance is also limited to the grievance as projected by the respondents in their consumer complaint.

This case is important case from the angle of those apartment owners who get delayed delivery of flat and they are not adequately compensated for the same by the builders.

Ramesh Patodia
18-12-2021